Reach Out
by Jalaperilo
Summary: As soon as Ratchet saw them, he knew they were going to be the bane of his existance. A story about the twin's growing up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N – All commentary can be found at jalaperilo (dot) livejournal (dot) com. R&R please!

uReach Out - Chapter 1/u

From the moment Ratchet saw them, he had a small feeling they were going to be the bane of his existence. The yellow one had all but dragged the red one in to his little clinic with a broken knee joint in the middle of the offcycle. The pair had been shouting and arguing just inside the entrance, about getting the knee fixed. The red one not strong enough to stop the other pulling at him while his leg was unusable.

Ratchet, who had been preparing his examination room ready for the day cycle to begin, had heard the shouting and had gone to investigate. From behind the metallic and glass door that separated the waiting area from the rest of the building, he watched the spectacle for a few moments, entranced and amused by the little drama. Red was hanging onto the door frame while Yellow was tugging at his back plating, yelling at him to let go and get in the clinic.

Why they were here so late, and without supervision, Ratchet couldn't guess. Everyone in the area knew that the clinic had an open door policy for all who needed help. Living above in a small two berthroom abode, he had had Wheeljack, the other mech living above the clinic, install a chime for anyone to ring if there was no one actually present. It was rare for either one of them not to be around though, especially during the night phase. They had a few other medics work for them during the day cycles, but they were volunteers.

Ratchet pressed the door release, which was always closed late at night, for everyone's safety. The soft whoosh of air alerted the bickering duo to his presence. Red let go of the door frame in surprise, and the other, still pulling at him, toppled them both over onto the floor. Ratchet quirked an optic ridge at the small pile of limbs on the floor. The red one groaned as he held his knee.

"Well done," Yellow, on the bottom of the pile, gasped. He lifted himself up, throwing Red off of him. He managed to catch himself before he jostled his knee again, and turned his head to his friend.

"It's your fault," as the heated reply.

"What do you two want?" Ratchet asked, stopping the argument that was inevitable going to break out. He had already guessed, through not so brilliant deduction, but he didn't want to assume. Yellow stood up gracefully, grabbing Red's arm and yanking him up.

"He fell off of one of the domestic units and hurt his knee. Can you fix it?" was the direct answer, defiant eyes meeting his stare. Red yanked his arm out of the others grasp but swayed on one leg and latched onto Yellow's shoulder.

"What were you doing on the top of the units?" Ratchet asked, frustration projected in his voice. He had learned that when he gave them an impatient look and a curt response, most people got straight to the point. These two seemed different. Yellow shrugged. These two were going to be difficult, he could just tell.

"Come on then," he sighed, walking over and picking up Red and taking him to the first med room, where general cases were treated. Yellow scurried after them, cycling o2 quickly as he ran to keep up with Ratchets brisk pace. He deposited his little charge on the med berth before going to get supplies from the cabinet. When he turned back around, the yellow one had just climbed up to sit next the other.

Yep, definitely difficult.

He walked back over and took a seat on a stool in front of the two. He gently manoeuvred Red as he scanned the injury, his vision taking on a slight green hue as the sensors swept over and through the tiny armour, scanning his energon system, then his circuits before getting to the intro-skeletal system, results of the medical scan flashed up on his HUD. Nothing serious, just a few supporting struts needed replacing and a few lines to be reconnected. He made a cursory scan over his entire system, noticing that there was a slight hitch in his intake valve. That could be from the pain in the knee. He extended a small tool from his forefinger and neutralised the pain receptors with it. A small sigh of relief escaped Red and Ratchet smiled to himself.

He quickly began to work, removing two of the struts and had already welding them into place before he realised that Yellow was still taking in o2 heavily. He lifted his head from his work to scan the youngling. He had a pinched expression and the noise coming from him sounded like the pistons themselves were either faulty or simply out of alignment. The scan confirmed his suspicions. His scrutiny earned him a fierce glare.

"What?" came the defensive question. Ratchet levelled his own glare at the youngling.

"Your oxygen system is out of alignment. How long has that been the case?" Ratchet asked, running a full scan over his entire chassis. The results came out almost identical to Red, even down to energy signatures. He frowned. Both of them had problems with their intakes, but Yellow's was worst. On closer inspection, the two looked alike, identical in their protoforms and their, more than likely, final sparkling armour. Even siblings had slight differences in their signatures. These two were turning into a real enigma.

"Always. Are you going to fix Sides or what?" Yellow shot back. Ratchet met the tiny glare, not quite daunting because of his young age. It was actually quite cute on such a little face.

"Yes. Then I'm gonna fix you as well." Surely their creators would have had his intakes repaired. That was if they were even around. With the unrest and murmurs of the war reaching further out, it wouldn't be surprising that they may already been dead. That would explain why the two little ones were in the outskirts and out in the middle of the recharge cycle. Especially in this city. Poor things.

"You should fix his mouth closed," Red said, cutting through Ratchet's ponderings and grinning at the other. The glare was now trained on the other youngling. Ratchet rubbed his helm. He decided to go back to the knee. The sooner he got them both fixed up, the sooner he could find out about their creators. They fell into near silence, which was only interrupted by Yellow's heavy o2 intake.

"So," Ratchet began, "You're name is Sides?"

"It's Sideswipe. He's Sunstreaker, but you can call him Sunny," the little red one said.

"No he can't!" Sunstreaker yelled. Ratchet didn't even raise an optic ridge at the outburst. He had already pegged Sunstreaker as a small bundle of angry energy, content to defy everything around him. Sideswipe was more relaxed, maybe even fun loving, if the silly grin he was wearing had anything to do with it. He also fidgeted a lot.

"What's your name?" Sideswipe asked, leaning forward to watch the progress on his knee. Ratchets optics flickered up for an astrosecond, taking in the inquisitive smile, before settling back onto the knee.

"Ratchet."

"Can I call you Ratch?" Ratchet's lip quirked slightly.

"No."

Ratchet retracted his micro laser and reactivated the pain sensors. He clicked the knee plating back together and looked up as Sideswipe.

"Fixed?" was the question that cut past the statement on his lips as Sideswipe stood up on the berth and began jumping up and down as if to test it for himself. No wonder he had hurt himself with the way he was carrying on. Sunstreaker just watched with a pout as he was jostled in his sitting position. Ratchet growled.

"For now. No more climbing on buildings though, and stop jumping on the berth!" Sideswipe giggled and kept jumping. Ratchet grabbed him and sat him back down. He could feel his temper rising, but he had to temper it for now, at least until they were fixed.

"Let's go," Sunstreaker said, tugging on Sideswipe's arm, getting ready to get off the berth, but Ratchet stilled him.

"Not yet. I still need to take a look at you intakes," he said as he pushed the small body down so that he was lying down. He grumbled a bit but didn't fight. The berth was big enough that both younglings could lie side by side easily. Sideswipe crawled next to the other and looked up expectantly at Ratchet.

"I just need you to open your chest up to see what the problem is," he said, making sure that they both knew what he was doing. The little defiant optics stared at him before he heard the soft click of the latch release. He could have opened it himself, but he assumed that Sunstreaker would feel more at ease if he had some kind of control. Younglings were easy to read.

Wordlessly, Ratchet opened the chest cavity and began to scan the insides. Sideswipe took this opportunity to peer over. Sunstreaker just growled and swatted at him. Ratchet clicked his vocaliser and they both settled down. He decided to do a complete scan.

"So, are you two brother's?" Ratchet asked, optics still scanning over the little chest. He had found the faulty valve. It didn't even need replacing.

"We're twins," Sunstreaker answered solemnly.

"Split spark twins!" Sideswipe crowed excitedly. Ratchet's head snapped up at that. That was a rarity. No one knew much about them. While siblings did share a bond through their sparks, split spark's were directly keyed into each other's life-forces. Not only could they communicate emotions through their bond like siblings, they could actually talk to each other, and over vast differences, just like a spark bonded pair.

Very little was written on split sparks. Such a rarity had seldom come to the attention of the medical community enough to be fully documented. Ratchet felt a bit giddy, actually meeting a pair. He ran another complete scan over them both, taking in all the details he could about their tiny frames and life energy, even their spark's. He intended to write up his findings, if only for his own records.

The war between Vos and Tam had already sent shockwaves through the hemisphere, claiming a large amount of the scientific community. Gone were the days of his internship when there had been a chance to learn and better their understanding of their world. To test his skills and aid in medical research. Even without the support of the academic community didn't stop Ratchet's desire to learn, just his dream of teaching his skills to another generation.

"That's very special. You two are very lucky, to have each other," Ratchet said as he continued to scan them. To have someone there for you, regardless if they're around or not, must be comforting in a universe this big and empty.

"It's great sometimes, when Sunny isn't in a bad mood," Sideswipe said, poking his brother in the shoulder, Sunstreaker batted his hand away.

"Who wants to be grinning like a moron all the time anyway," the little yellow one shot back, the corner of his lip plates turning into a smirk.

"Me!" Sideswipe yelled, grabbing Sunstreaker's cheek plates and pinching them, "Smile Sunshine!"

Sunstreaker struggled as best he could with his chest open, but couldn't stop the laughter tumbling out of him.

"No! I don't wanna be a moron! Help me Ratchet!" he yelled through chuckles. Ratchet himself could barely contain his laughter as he intervened, finally separating them. They both stopped their giggling, but Sideswipe still had a grin on his face. Sunstreaker was now gasping. Ratchet could see the problem right in front of him as he watched Sunstreaker's valves working. The faulty one was barely moving and the other was overworking to compensate.

"What about your creators? Where are they?" that question was answered with a shrug from Sideswipe. His brother continued to gasp, his scowl firmly back in place. He guessed their avoidance was more to do with not wanting to talk about it than genuinely not knowing.

He extended his electro-calibrator from his middle finger, pausing to look at his little patient.

"Now Sunstreaker, I need you to draw in as much oxygen as possible, and hold it in until I say so. Okay?" Ratchet asked. He needed only a few astroseconds to fix the problem. Sunstreaker looked at him, his optics loosing the scowl and replaced by something else. Was it nerves or fear? Sideswipe gazed long and hard between the two before he took the yellow ones hand and leaned over him.

"We'll both do it, ok Sunny?" he whispered, his hold on his brothers hand. Sunstreaker nodded slowly after a few clicks. They both looked into Ratchet, who nodded at them to start. At the same time they both filled their o2 tanks then held it. Ratchet worked quickly, realigning the piston and tightening the joint.

"Done," he announced. Both twins exhaled, cycling oxygen again. The difference was immediate. Sunstreaker's gasping was gone. His optics widened as his valves finally behaved like they should and was drawing in the right amount. Sideswipe was practically bouncing on his knees, grinning at his brother.

Ratchet closed the little chest cavity and help the yellow twin sit up. He couldn't help the grin that spread out over his little face. An identical copy of his brothers. Before Ratchet could stop them, they were both stood up, bouncing up and down, giggling gleefully. Even the gruff medic, who enjoyed his reputation, didn't have the heart to stop them. At first anyway.

"I can bounce higher!"

"No, I'm the best! I'm the best at everything!"

"Alright you two, settle down, I don't want to have to fix you again," he raised his voice over the shouts and laughter.

"Ratch? I heard-," a voice came from the door before stopping. Ratchet hadn't heard it open, not over the twins' noise, so jumped slightly. He turned his head to face Wheeljack, the mech stood looking quite confused at the scene in front of him, the fins on the side of his helm still lit up.

Both Younglings stopped still and turned to face the new mech. Ratchet sighed in relief now that they had stopped bouncing up and down. Both of them stared at Wheeljack, who was looking right back at him, optics crinkled in amusement.

"How come he gets to call you Ratch?" Sideswipe asked, turning back to Ratchet. The medic gave out a long suffering sigh and proceeded to lift the two off of the birth before one of them fell off.

"Because he doesn't know any better," Ratchet huffed, sending a glare to the inventor cum medic, who lit his fins up in a friendly gesture.

"I do, I just like to wind him up. It brightens my day," Wheeljack replied smiling down at the younglings, who were both looking up at him with identical looks of inquisitiveness.

"Who are your little patients then?" he asked kneeling down. Even though he knew that his friend had address him, Ratchet could tell he was waiting for the little ones to speak. And he wasn't disappointed.

"We're Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, but you can call us Sides and Sunny," the little red one said cockily, throwing an arm over his brothers shoulder plating, pulling him closer. The yellow one shrugged off the arm, muttering about the nickname.

"I'm Wheeljack, you can call me 'Jack if you want," the mech said, extending a hand. It was only then that Ratchet saw why Wheeljack had come into the clinic.

"Where the frag are your fingers?" he bellowed, looking incredulously at the three stumps of Wheeljack's three outer digits. The inventor had the grace to look guilty, scratching his fin with his uninjured hand. The twins were looking at the mangled hand with the same curiosity they had displayed when the mech first entered the room. Sideswipe even took to poking at the stumps.

"Long story short? Laser knife mishap. I would have reattached them myself, but I'm not too good with my left hand as I am with the right," he said, fins flashing brightly.

"You are a walking disaster! One day you're going to offline yourself for good! Then I'll drag you from the pit and offline you again!" The medic yelled, turning around and going back to the cabinets to retrieve more tools.

"Now that's not nice Ratch," He glanced at the twins and gave them a wink of the optics, which earned the inventor some quiet giggles. Ratchet sighed again as he walked back to the berth and motioned for Wheeljack to sit.

"Come on Sides, we're fixed, let's go," Sunstreaker said, dragging his twin by the arm.

"Bye 'Jack! Bye Ratch!" Sideswipe said as they began running out of the door.

"Hey! I didn't say you little glitches could leave yet!" Ratchet yelled, following them. The twins were fast and already through the lobby doors and off into the night before he was out of the room. He went to the doors and stood looking out for a moment, a knot of worry curling up in his tanks. Hopefully the two had somewhere to go. Or the good sense to come back if they needed to.

Younglings that young should at least have somewhere safe to recharge during the offcycle. Their refusal to say anything about their creators gave him a sinking feeling that they were all alone out there with no one but each other. Would that be enough for them to survive on? Especially on these streets that brought him injured mechs and femmes all the time, damaged from the harshness of life in the city and sporadic violence breaking out. Would any of them survive what's coming?

Ratchet heaved a sigh through his vents before locked the doors again and returning to his newest patient. Wheeljack had poked his head out of the door. Ratchets pensive far away expression turned to irritation as he entered the room.

"You left the doors open. Again," Ratchet said in a tight, controlled voice, vocal gears seizing slightly. Wheeljack scratched his fin again, a nervous gesture.

"So, brothers?" Wheeljack asked, trying to change the subject.

"Split park's," Ratchet replied as he took the first digit from where the inventor had lined them up next to him on the trolley. He pulled out the wiring and lines from both finger and hand, ready to begin the tedious job of reattachment.

"Really? I didn't know we had split spark's in the neighbourhood. Who's are they?" Wheeljack asked, fidgeting at the slight pain of the micro-welder.

"I don't think they belong to anyone. They wouldn't tell me where their creators were, Primus help them," Ratchet said as he magnified his vision to check that both energon lines had been repaired properly.

Wheeljack's fins lit up but he didn't say anything, which Ratchet was thankful for. It left him to let his CPU wander back to the little youngling. Sure enough, they had gotten away this time but if Ratchet saw them again, he'd make sure to find them somewhere safe to stay.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: As usual, commentary and notes can be found at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com. Also, thank you to the reviewers, as well as everyone who put this story/me on alert and everyone who took the time to read the first chapter.

O o O o O o O o O o O

Reach Out – Chapter 2

It was over a vorn later when Ratchet finally managed to catch the twins. They had seen the medic a few times since their visit to the clinic, but never stopped to talk, normally because an enforcer was chasing after them. They normally heard the medic shout after them, calling them glitches and to get here now, but they just continued running and laughing.

Once the weaker twin, Sunstreaker was able to look after his brother like he always knew that he could do, now that s o2 tanks were working properly. The shift in responsibility was large but barely heeded; Sideswipe now happy that his brother was able to keep up. No enforcer could catch them.

Ratchet wasn't an enforcer. That was probably why he managed to corner them one night. The twins had been planning to break into one of the factories in the middle of the offcycle to steal a few cubes of energon. They were at the fence surrounding the facility, arguing on how they were going to pull of this particular heist, when strong hands grabbed them both by the useless scruffbars that all sparklings and younglings had and hefted them up.

They both protested loudly, trying to wriggle away, but the scruffbars were made to immobilise them.

"You little glitches have caused enough trouble for one evening," a stern voice cut above their protests. They both turned their helms to meet the furious faceplates of Ratchet. Sunstreaker glared back, while Sideswipe closed his mouth that had fallen open at the sound of the grim medic. They both swung slightly as Ratchet turned and began to walk down the street, in the direction of his clinic.

"C'mon Ratchet, we weren't doing anything," Sideswipe tried to reason with the mech.

"Not yet," Sunstreaker muttered, crossing his arms. He knew better than to try to lie to the white mech. Neither of them saw the glare directed at them as they were held out at arm's length.

::We're in so much trouble:: Sideswipe sent to his brother over their bond, fidgeting nervously.

::I blame you::

::You always blame me!::

"That's cause it's always your fault!" Suntreaker yelled at Sideswipe, taking a swing at him.

"Settle down," Ratchet barked. Sideswipe went back to sulking. Sunstreaker was curled into a ball, his mood radiating through their bond clearly.

Once at the clinic, Ratchet breezed through the lobby and past the examination room they had first been treated in. He turned sharply at the end of the corridor and entered a small room to the side.

From first impressions, Sideswipe had to guess that this was Ratchet's office. The back wall was covered ceiling to floor with files and datapads. Large stacks of pads also littered the room. In front of the padcase was a large desk covered in computer parts and tools, stood n it was a decent size terminal. Wheeljack was sat in what Sideswipe assumed was Ratchet's chair, hands deep into the terminal, his optics narrowed as he concentrated on the inner working of the machine.

"It's not as bad as I thought, but it's still gonna take... well, hello again," Wheeljack said, fins flashing and completely forgetting the computer.

Sideswipe gave a small wave to the other mech as Ratchet briskly walked towards one of the other chairs in the room, and deposited both youngling onto one. He then circled the chair and came to a stop in front of them, leaning back on his desk and crossing his arms. He raised one optic ridge and stared heavily at the two. Both returned to gaze, but with different expressions.

"You two are quite a bother, you know? Running around like little glitch mice, getting into all sorts of trouble. It's a wonder you're still online, the way you carry on," Ratchet started, glaring down at them. Sideswipe fidgeted. This was probably worst than getting caught by an enforcer. He liked the medic, they both did, but he was still scary to them. He kinda envied Sunstreaker's ability to hide his discomfort. He was also glad he didn't have that ability, cause Sunny always hid when he was happy as well.

"Sorry Ratchet," Sideswipe began, he knew deep down that apologies weren't going placate the mech towering above them, but they would at least lay some ground work for later, when he really did want an apology. The medic carried on as if the young bot hadn't said anything.

"You two keep this up and you're going to get slagged." Wheeljack muttered something about language in front of younglings, but Ratchet wasn't listening to him as well.

"Is that what you want? You're not even out of protoform's yet and you're already fragging up your lives! Is this what you want from life? Always running and hiding from the forces, stealing whatever you need? What would you do if you stole from the wrong mech? Or there wasn't any place for you to go? Are you actually happy with scavenging around like orphaned turbocubs?" Ratchet had worked himself into a full on rant. Sideswipe saw Wheeljack busy himself with the terminal, wincing to himself every time Ratchet shouted a little too loudly.

:: Ratchet is scary:: Sunstreaker said over their bond.

::He's right though, that's even scarier::

Sideswipe broke optics with Ratchet and lowered his helm. Sunstreaker was looking off to the side, but the words had hit home with him as well. How many times had they huddled together during cold offcycle's with no roof overhead, waiting for something to come and get them? They knew that most Cybertronians didn't live this way, but what else could they do, they had no one. Only a cranky medic shouting at them. They both sort out the others hand and squeezed tight.

Sideswipe heard Ratchet vent a sigh and knelt down in front of them. This time his voice was soft, but his faceplates were still troubled.

"I can't begin to understand how difficult it must be for you to have nothing, but it has to stop. Not just for others, but for you as well. What if you steal from the wrong person one day? Do you think everyone would go easy on you just cause you're younglings?" Ratchet said, placing each of his red hands on the arms of the chair they were seated on. Sunstreaker didn't move a millimetre. Sideswipe fidgeted for a second under the heavy weight of Ratchet's glare.

He put a small hand on Ratchet's own and looked the medic in the eye, voicing the shared question that they both wanted to ask and both feared the answer to.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, trying not to sound scared, but failed miserable. The swirling emotion within Sunstreaker belayed his cool exterior, agitating Sideswipe even more.

Ratchet moved his hand and took the small red hand in his own. He drew in a large amount of o2 and expelled it slowly.

"Really, I should turn you both over to the authorities. They would at least be able to deal with you properly. Then again, the way things are going, I don't know if two errant younglings would be at the top of their priority list."

"That is, if there is still an infrastructure still in place in the future," Wheeljack muttered, still working away at the console. Ratchet nodded slightly, turning to the inventor before turning back to face Sideswipe face on, Sunstreaker still turning his helm away.

"I guess the only other option is for someone to take you in," Ratchet sighed, shaking his helm. Sideswipe looked at the older mech with large optics, his mouth slightly open. Sunstreaker finally turned back to the mech, his expression hardly changing, but his confusion radiated off of him. Sideswipe saw from the corner of his optic that Wheeljack had stopped working and was now staring at the medic, helm cocked to one side as if the white mech had suddenly turned organic.

"So those are your options. I drag you down to the security centre, or you stay here. And you _will_ be staying put if you do choose it," Ratchet continued, obviously ignoring the reactions from the other three occupants in the room.

::Can you believe this?::

::I guess it's ok. Maybe:: Sunstreaker answered, but the tendril of hope leaked through the bond to his twin.

"We can stay here? Like, every offcycle?" Sideswipe asked hurriedly, that same grin now plastered on his face again. Ratchet nodded, releasing the little hand and standing up again.

"Do I get a say in this?" Wheeljack piped up, flashing his fin's in amusement.

"No."

"Didn't think so."

"Can we have energon every cycle?"

"I'm not about to starve you, am I?" Ratchet said in exasperation, rolling his optics. Sideswipe jumped off of the chair and wrapped his arms around Ratchet's legs, helm resting on the medic's hip. Sideswipe could feel his brother's reluctant acceptance of the situation.

"Can we have energon now?" Sideswipe asked, turning hopeful optic's towards the medic. Ratchet's little intervention had stopped their raid for energon and his tanks were now feeling rather empty, especially after four cycles of going without.

Ratchet sighed and nodded. He tilted his helm backwards, signalling the twins to follow him. Sideswipe let go of the legs and followed the medic, Sunstreaker following behind them.

"You can have some while we give you a check up," Ratchet said, motioning for Wheeljack to follow him.

"Looks like I've been drafted," the inventor murmured in good humour, forgetting the terminal and following everyone else.

The twins followed Ratchet down the corridor and into one of the examination rooms. Sideswipe noted that it was the same one they had first visited when he had damaged his knee. Before he knew it, he was being picked up and deposited on the medberth, quickly followed by Sunstreaker. They watched the medic silently as he busied himself in the medical cupboard, taking out different pieces of equipment and placing them on the medical cart next to him.

Wheeljack entered the room with two mini-cubes of energon. His fin's lit up as he took in the happy grin from Sideswipe. Sunstreaker looked less than pleased. Sideswipe took the cube and began to drink it hungrily. Sunstreaker took his time, sipping gingerly, like he was being made to drink medical grade.

Ratchet finally wheeled the cart over to the berth. He took a data pad and began to write on it before he attached it to the terminal at the head of the berth. He then took a scanner and began to scan Sideswipe.

"So, are we going to recharge here?" Sideswipe asked as the soft whirr off the scanner passed over him, he watched the datapad download the information from the scanner and display all the information. Wheeljack gently took Sunstreaker's helm and began to rotate it both left and right, before examining the joints and servos before examining the rest of the twin's joints with the same care.

"No. Wheeljack and I live upstairs. There's a staircase on the side of the building leading up to it. That's where you'll be living," Ratchet replied off-hand as he removed a small circular object from the scanner. He tilted Sideswipe's helm to the side and accessed a small data port, connecting the object to it.

"What does that do? Are you gonna reprogram him to not be a moron?" Sunstreaker asked, peering around his twin, half of the energon still in his cube. Wheeljack chuckled over Sideswipe's indignant response.

"No, it's for scanning your CPU's. Just to record how far your development is," Ratchet supplied with a sigh.

"By the way, where _are_ they going to stay? It's already pretty crowded up there," the inventor asked as he began to check Sunstreaker's optics with one of the devices from the cart.

"My berth, for now. It won't take long to put up a partition the main room for their own space," the medic murmured as he disconnected the diagnostic tool and handed it over to Wheeljack, who traded the optic calibrator with him.

"Where are you going to recharge?" the inventor asked, raising an optic ridge.

"The call room maybe. Or your berth?" he snapped in reply as he tested Sideswipe's optics.

"Where am I gonna recharge?" Wheeljack's fin's lit up as his optics crinkled, the only signs belaying that he was grinning.

"Your berth!" Ratchet yelled, slamming the calibrator on the medcart, startling Sideswipe, who had succumb to the prodding and poking and had relaxed. Wheeljack just looked at the medic's challenging glare for a several astroseconds. He looked to be deciding whether to poke the petrohound further.

"I dunno. I like you Ratchet, but I think we should just stay friends," he said, failing to hide the amusement in his voice. Ratchet just groaned and offlined his optics. Sideswipe giggled as Wheeljack winked at the twins. Even Sunstreaker was smirking.

"I mean," the medic started, trying desperately to keep his voice level as he ground the words out of his vocaliser, "we never recharge at the same time anyway, not with running this place."

The medic turned back to the twins and started to test their audio receptors. Sideswipe tilted his helm to the side and let the medic ping subsonic pulses, testing their accuracy. Wheeljack was now attaching the CPU scanner to the yellow one's dataport. Sunstreaker had now put the energon cube down, still only half drunk.

"You should drink up, your energy levels are getting low," Wheeljack commented as he continued to scan. Sunstreaker looked at the cube and pulled a face bordering on disgust.

"I don't like energon. It makes my tank hurt," he grumbled, picking it up and taking another small sip. Ratchet looked up from where he was checking the red twin's knee joint, the one he had repaired long ago.

He leaned over and looked at the scanner in Wheeljack's hand as he rescanned Sunstreaker's energon pump and tank. Wheeljack pressed a few buttons as he continued to study the readings on the small display. He furrowed his optic ridges.

"There," Ratchet said, pointing at the display, before pressing some more buttons. Sideswipe craned his neck to try and see what was going on. Sunstreaker just looked weary that everyone's attention was on him now.

"Are you going to have to reprogram him to be nicer?" Sideswipe asked, almost echoing Sunstreaker's earlier jibe. All he got was a stern glare. Both were ignored.

"See that? It should be into the fifteen hundreds," Ratchet murmured, finally taking the scanner, both mech's still looking at it.

"That means it's an intolerance right?" Wheeljack suddenly said, optics rising to look at Ratchet, "he should be drinking low grade then."

"Low grade is for one thousand upwards. For eight fifty, it'll be half grade," Ratchet replied as Wheeljack took the cube from the twin.

"What's wrong?" Sunstreaker asked, still scowling from his brother's comment.

"You have an energon intolerance. That means that your tank is sensitive to energon. You'll need to drink a special mix of mid grade and additives, called half grade. You won't feel sick when you drink it," Ratchet explained, turning to scan Sideswipe's abdomen.

"I'll go get you some," Wheeljack said, turning to leave.

Ratchet continued to scan the other twin. He nodded before putting the scanner down on the cart.

"Your tank, on the other hand, is at a normal level, even a little higher than most," Ratchet informed the other twin.

"If we're identical, why are our tanks different?" Sideswipe asked tilting his helm as Ratchet began to wheel the cart backwards towards the cupboard and taking the datapad from the terminal.

"It depends on the material's used to construct a chassis. It's impossible to look at a tank, or any part of our bodies, and know that the material is more sensitive than another one until it's actually in a mech's body, being used," Ratchet explained as he flipped through the reams of data that they had collected, making sure they had collected enough information on their medical charts.

"So, when we get our next upgrade, Sunny might be able to drink regular energon?" Sideswipe asked, slowly understanding what Ratchet had said. He was beginning to wish the medic used simpler language.

Wheeljack came back in at that point, a cube of energon in hand. It looked no different than the other cube he had taken away. He handed it to Sunstreaker who, yet again, reluctantly took it, peering at it.

"It's half a portion of mid grade, with concentrated additives that will counteract the effects on your tank and also give you the energy of a full cube," Wheeljack explained, gesturing for the Yellow twin to drink.

Reluctantly, he brought it to his lips and took a sip. He frowned.

"It tastes the same," he said. Sideswipe guessed that his brother had been expecting it to taste different.

"That's because the serum doesn't taste of anything. Now drink," Ratchet ordered distractedly, still reading through the reports, he had a concentrated frown that he seemed to always wear when reading.

Sunstreaker glared at the medic, who wasn't looking at him, before drinking more. Sideswipe continued to watch his twin, waiting to see if his brother would start to feel ill, like he always used to whenever they had energon. Slowly, Sunstreaker drank the cube, even managing to finish it, for the first time ever, amazing his twin.

::How do you feel?:: he asked over the bond, gently prodding to see if he could feel his brothers discomfort.

:Ok. My tank doesn't hurt:: came the reply.

Sideswipe grinned and threw his arms around his brothers next, knocking them both backwards onto the berth, the empty energon cube fell to the floor with a clatter. Sunstreaker grunted and began to struggle.

"You have to drink all your cubes from now on. No excuses," Sideswipe said, tugging at his brother's arm, fending off Sunstreaker's defensive pushing.

"Leave me alone! I'll purge on you!" Sunstreaker shouted back, slapping at his brothers arms and chest.

"No you won't! Half grade for half a CPU," Sideswipe laughed.

"Knock it off!" Ratchet shouted, pulling Sideswipe off of his brother. Wheeljack had been busy putting the tools away and was now standing behind the berth, helping Sunstreaker up.

"You're both relatively healthy, considering you've been on the streets for so long. Energy levels are low, but a few good recharges and cubes will make up for that," Ratchet announced, still scrolling through the pad, still frowning at the data. He hummed, expression turning to mild surprise.

"Firewall's are remarkably healthy. You're CPU's are quite developed. Another couple of vorns and you may even be ready for your adult forms," he said, making notes on his pad.

Both twins looked at him in surprise then to each other. Sideswipe's CPU could hardly compute what Ratchet had just said. Adult forms? Neither of them had even thought about their upgrade, neither had imagined that they would ever be able to afford it. Adult forms meant that they would be able to look after themselves. Get jobs, be respected, be able to transform!

"Seriously? We're gonna upgrade soon?" It was Sunstreaker that had spoken first, the excitement shining through his normally moody exterior. He may have been even more excited that Sideswipe.

"Well, you'll have to upgrade one day, by the second vorn, you'll be ready. Your CPU's are still developing spatial awareness and rationality circuits, which are some of the last to be mapped out in normal protoform development," he said as he tucked the pad into his subspace and turned to them. Both twins were looking at him, completely confused. He sighed.

"Yes, you'll be adults soon." This statement set Sideswipe off again, tugging his brother up so that they could jump on the berth. Both were laughing and shouting loudly. Ratchet growled and grabbed Sideswipe, while Wheeljack picked up Sunstreaker, both twin's still giggling.

"I've told you before, no jumping on the medberth's," Ratchet snapped, placing the red twin on the ground. The twin just looked up at him for a moment before he ran around the berth to his brother and grabbing him brothers arm, spinning them both around. Sideswipe laughed even louder when Sunstreaker didn't object to the rough handling.

"I think it's time for recharge," Wheeljack said as he stepped forward to halt the twins before they threw their equilibrium off completely. He turned to lead both younglings towards the door, Ratchet following them, shaking his helm the entire time.

A/N: Next time – The twin's explore their new home.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Extensive commentary and notes can be found at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com. I suggest you at least have a look, if for nothing more than my inane ramblings. More thank you's to reviewers and those who have put the fic and myself on favourite lists and alerts. I was floating on air due to the thirty five email notifications I received within twenty four hours of posting chapter two. I am humbled and thank you all from the bottom of my spark.

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Reach Out – Chapter 3

The access to the flat above the clinic was a small stairwell on the side of the building. Ratchet had to shout at them to stop racing each other up to the top step, especially as it looked like they were trying to knock each other over. Wheeljack turned to him, raising an optic ridge at Ratchet, as if to say _'Are you sure you can live with this?'_ He just rolled his optics and snorted in reply.

The front door opened onto a corridor, with one door situated on the right hand side, two on the left and one at the end of the hall opposite the door they had entered in. Once the door was closed, ratchet gestured to a panel off to the side of the front door.

"This communicator will allow you to contact out communicators, in case you need anything. The first button is mine, the second is Wheeljack's. We'll see about getting you a communicator as well, so we can keep track of you," Ratchet explained before moving them through the door on the right.

The door opened onto a good sized room that was full of different machinery, scrap metal, part's and some scattered energon cubes. Neither of them were at home for any extended period of time, so it had become something of a second storage area.

"I've slept in receptacles tidier than this," Sunstreaker said as he eyed the room. Sideswipe thought it was great and walked up to all the different machinery, pushing buttons on inactive control pads.

Ratchet called Sunstreaker over to the energon dispenser and began to show the yellow twin how to operate the controls and how to make it produce half grade for him to consume. The twin nodded in silence as he explained the simple process.

The red twin picked up a strange piece of... something off of the floor. It was spherical, with singed and scorched wiring spilling out of it and tangled in the three legs, or antennas, sticking out of it.

"What's this?" he asked, fascinated by the broken thing.

"It's a centralised information hub. I came up with it back in college," Wheeljack said, looking over from where he stood next to the other occupants in the room, watching the quick lesson.

"A what? What does it do?" he asked dubiously as he pulled at one of the thin protrusions, only to have it snap off in his hand.

"It blows up," Ratchet answered before the inventor could and aimed a pointed look at the other mech. Sideswipe stared at the two pieces, looking more than a little perturbed.

"Will it blow up now?" he asked and Ratchet couldn't tell if there was fear or excitement at the prospect of something detonating.

"No, but if you stick around you'll witness a few explosions. You may even be lucky enough to be scorched in the process," Ratchet huffed as he stood up, content that Sunstreaker had understood his instruction. Wheeljack ignored the grousing, which always put Ratchet in a worst mood if he let himself wallow in his fury, which he often did. But not this offcycle.

"Come on," Ratchet said motioning for the twins to follow him. They exited the room and entered the corridor again. Judging by the state of the rest of the place, it seemed to be the only place that was uncluttered. That was thanks to Ratchet dislocating an elbow strut after tripping over a large, half scrapped neutron laser. Wheeljack had had to have one of his fins reattached at the same time after said instrument had been impressively thrown at him by the medic, weight and mangled elbow be damned.

"Before you recharge, we're going to get you clean. You're both filthy," Ratchet took them to the end of the corridor and entered the washroom, followed closely by the twins. It was a small room with one open cubical, complete with both jet shower and blow-dryer. Sunstreaker looked pleased at the prospect of getting clean. Ratchet mused that it was probably because he had a light paint job, like himself, it showed the dirt more clearly. Red, on the other hand, was a good colour for hiding muck and grime on chassis'.

Ratchet turned on the water and ushered both twins into the cubical. It started out peaceful enough, but one of them, Ratchet had turned his back for a moment so he didn't know who, had splashed the other and now they were having an all out water and soap fight. Ratchet had hollered at both of them to stop, but had been completely ignored. It only ended when he physically removed Sideswipe from the cubical. Getting in between their fight had left Ratchet soaked as well.

He placed the red youngling under the dryer and started it up, letting himself drip dry while he waited for the fidgeting red twin to completely dry.

"Where's Wheeljack?" Sideswipe asked, looking around. Ratchet smirked at the fact that during all the excitement, they had completely missed the fact that the engineer had been absent since before they began washing.

"Probably in his lab," came the offhand reply, "Sunstreaker, are you going to finish washing soon?"

"No."

"Can we go see Wheeljack's lab?" Sideswipe asked, insistently. Ratchet sighed. He should have know that the one place he wouldn't want the younglings to be anywhere near was the place they would instinctually be drawn to.

"Maybe. Sunstreaker, you're going to wash all your paint off if you don't finish up, now get dried," Ratchet said, stepping over to the cubical. The yellow twin was just stood under the jet, optics offline, letting to water pound over him.

"Yeah Sunny, we're going to go to Wheeljack's lab. Get your aft out of there," Sideswipe chimed in, looking around Ratchet's legs. Sunstreaker's optics onlined and glared at his brother.

"Shut up aft face," Sunstreaker replied as Ratchet leaned over to turn the water stream off which earned him a glare from the yellow youngling.

"Watch the language. Now, you, under the dryer," Ratchet said, stepping away and pointing at the other wall. The yellow twin trudged over and started the blower.

"You said slag, when you were shouting at us," Sideswipe pointed out in a matter of fact tone. Ratchet gave the youngling a withering glance, which the youngling seemed to be immune against.

"I know, and I should have known better that to say that in front of you," Ratchet said, putting his hands on his hips. They may be almost adults, but that was still no reason to teach them anymore than there needs to be.

"We know all the curse words. Glitch, slag, frag, slot, Primus, suck an exhaust pipe, go-,"

"That's enough. Now, we'll go drag Wheeljack out of his room, and then it's time for recharge," Ratchet ordered, marching out of the washroom and back down the hall. Ratchet stopped in front of one of the doors, the twins coming to stop behind him, before hitting the door release.

The room was brightly lit and was larger than the main room, but the amount of equipment, furniture and other stuff cluttering the room made it feel cramped. Most of the walls had shelving filled with scrap parts and tools, the floor had stray pieces of wiring scattered around. In the centre of the room stood a large work table, with yet more clutter and half built contraptions. In one far corner shoved up against the wall was a berth and in the other far corner was a drafting table with Wheeljack stood over it, scribbling away furiously.

"Thank you for your help washing the younglings," Ratchet said as soon as the doors opened. Wheeljack turned his helm slightly to raise an optic in Ratchet's direction. The medic had not had the time to dry himself off after playing referee, so he could imagine that he looked like he was in a bit of a state. The inventors gaze then shifted his gaze to the twins behind him and smiled.

"It looks like you did a good enough job, I didn't realise their paint was yellow and red," Wheeljack replied, setting his pen down and walking over to the centre table to pick up a circuit board.

Ratchet just sighed as he put his hands on his hips and shook his helm. Wheeljack was his best friend, but he knew exactly which buttons to press to wind the doctor up. He even seemed to enjoy the reaction he got. The medic knew exactly what was happening, but he couldn't help but give the inventor the reaction he wanted, even if it did make his CPU ache.

Sideswipe stepped around the medic and entered the room. Ratchet placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him going any further. He turned around and got to one knee in front of both twins.

"Now listen carefully. There's a lot of delicate and dangerous stuff in here, some of which can seriously hurt you. You are not allowed in this room unless either one of us are here as well. This is where Wheeljack works on his inventions and commissions. He spends a lot of time here working on projects that people ask him to build, some of which are very sensitive, so you are not allowed to touch anything unless he says you can. Also, you shouldn't bother him if he's busy, so always ask if he's busy or not, and respect his answer. Ok?" Ratchet said solemnly, looking from one twin to the other. He received twin nods as he stood up again. Sideswipe stepped forward again and looked up as Wheeljack, who was leaning against his table, watching the whole thing with a soft look in his optics.

"Wheeljack, can we come in your lab?" Sideswipe asked, for once looking serious. Wheeljack's fins lit up and he placed a hand on the younglings red helm.

"Sure thing little buddies," the inventor replied, looking over to the door to smile at Sunstreaker. The inventor had long ago devised alternate ways of showing emotions when his mask was on. A slight crinkling of the derma plates around the optics and a triple flash of his fins indicated amusement.

Sunstreaker looked around the room before stepping beside Ratchet, placing a hand on the medic's thigh as he stood next to the doc.

"Is anything going to explode?" the yellow twin asked. Ratchet couldn't help but smirk at that comment. The yellow twin was sharp. Wheeljack laughed airily.

"No, I'm not working on anything explosive at the minute, they're all locked away," came the reply as Wheeljack kept his optics on the red twin as he started to make his way around the room slowly, peering at things and making a show of keeping his hands firmly behind his back. Sunstreaker went over to stand with his brother and they both began pointing at all the things that caught their optics and chatting about them. Ratchet approached the table and looked at the circuit board that the inventor was studying closely.

"Sorry I wandered off, but I was thinking about that hub, and it gave me an idea to help stop the excess build-up of energy for the electrodisrupter. Once I get that fixed, it's just the inverse electron flow to perfect and coming up with a way to centralise the range of the refraction field," Wheeljack said happily. Ratchet was no simpleton, and he himself could follow the inventors mad tangents that he could work himself up into, but sometimes Wheeljack lost him completely.

They let the younglings look around for a breem more before Ratchet deciding that they had had enough excitement for the night, Ratchet ushered them to his room. Though it was not as messy as Wheeljack's, it was crowded with more excess machinery and huge padcases, with a simple berth in the middle of it.

"I don't need recharge. Can I play with that?" Sideswipe said, pointing at a small stand that had a large device, covered in buttons on top of it.

"No. That's delicate medical equipment," Ratchet replied as he picked both twins up and placed them on the berth. Sunstreaker complied and lay down on one side of the berth, his normally moody faceplates now shaded with tiredness. Sideswipe refused to sit, instead kneeling up to talk to the other mechs.

"Sideswipe," Ratchet began, trying to sound stern and not fragged off. Wheeljack had yet to intervene. Ratchet had a sinking feeling he was going to be the one dishing out punishments. _Good_ he thought, _at least I'll know that they'll learn their lesson._

"I'm not tired," he repeated, but this time it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that fact. Sunstreaker had turned onto his side and was glaring at his brother. The yellow one obviously wanted to recharge, but his brother was still making too much noise.

"Regardless, you're going to go into recharge, even if I have to weld your diodes to the berth," Ratchet said evenly. He was starting to think that the only thing that would get through to the red one was a hit to the helm.

Sideswipe was about to reply, when Wheeljack stepped forward and placed a hand on the twin's helm.

"Ok Sides, we can stay up and talk, but you have to lie down. You'll be more comfortable," he said with gentle patience, fin's lighting up. Sideswipe looked at him for a long moment before lying down on his back. Wheeljack pulled over a grey unit and sat next to the berth. Ratchet mumbled something about equipment not being made to be sat on as he walked to the wall behind Wheeljack and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Wheeljack asked, leaning forward and resting his elbow's on his knee joints. The red twin shrugged his shoulders. Sunstreaker looked about ready to initiate.

"Why do you wear that mask?" Sideswipe asked, pointing to Wheeljack's faceplates. Ratchet chuckled lightly as he saw the inventor's fin's light up from behind. Wheeljack turned to look at Ratchet before turning back to the twins.

"It's for protection. I invent a lot of stuff. Every so often, one of my invention's will explode, normally in my faceplates, so it stop's me damaging my derma plating," Wheeljack answered softly.

"It's a pity the rest of your sorry aft need's patching up though," Ratchet muttered with a smirk.

"So you're not ugly then?" Sideswipe asked, genuine intrigue in his voice. Wheeljack laughed lightly, and Ratchet heard the blast mask retract.

"I dunno, what do you think?" Sideswipe seemed to consider the faceplates in front of him before shrugging.

"You look normal to me," came the quiet reply.

"That's the best compliment I've had in a long time," the inventor said, chuckling. Ratchet looked from the back of the inventor's helm to the twins. Sunstreaker was in recharge, curled up against his brother's side. With his faceplates completely relaxed, he now looked exactly like his twin. Sideswipe looked like he was tiring, but seemed to still be fighting it off.

Ratchet pushed himself off of the wall and came to stand over the berth, red hands on his hips. He looked down upon the two little bodies with a soft smirk.

"Are you two bonded?" Sideswipe asked, probably thinking that if he asked loads of question's, he'll stay awake longer, but it was a losing battle.

"No. We're just friends," Ratchet answered. Both mechs looked at each other, having been asked this question so many times before, by so many different people. Ratchet guessed it was their own fault. They had been together pretty much since they first met. Everyone seemed to assume that meant they were _together_. And, as Wheeljack had said earlier, he cared for the other mech, but they were friends.

"We've been told that we bicker like an old bonded couple though," Wheeljack said, still looking at Ratchet. The medic shook his helm.

"I don't think I would want access to your processor. I have a hard time understanding what you're talking about sometimes, I'm sure your thought processes would crash my systems," Ratchet murmured, smirking. Wheeljack threw his a wry grin.

"I'm sure if I was in yours, it would just be one big torrent of cursing, and I get enough of that shouted at me," Wheeljack replied, elbowing the medic's thigh.

They both turned back to the berth to see that Sideswipe had finally offlined his optics and initiated. Ratchet vented a sigh of relief before he and Wheeljack quietly left the berth room, the door sliding shut silently.

"Can you handle that every offcycle?" Wheeljack asked softly. He had yet to replace the blast mask.

"I think you can be in charge of the offcycle routine," Ratchet shot back, smirking as he crossed his arms under his chest.

"Great, dragging me into this, then dumping me with the responsibility. Some bondmate you'd be," Wheeljack said in mock exasperation, a silly grin belaying any sign of seriousness. Ratchet sighed and rotated his helm, stretching his neck cables in irritation.

"So, my berth?" Wheeljack said with a smirk, fin's lit up. Ratchet just punched him in the shoulder before walking off, subvocalising curses.

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A/N: Next time – The twins spend time with Wheeljack in his lab.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yet again, commentary at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com. Thank you again to reviewers and those who have faved it. I'm open to ideas for situations you'd like to see with this haphazard family. Anything from fluffy to angsty (screw you spell check, angsty _is_ a word!). I have three incidents I definitely want to do, but would like a few more before the twins finally grow up and we move on to the next part of their story. I can't guarantee that all suggestions will be done, but I'll try to do a few. Comment here in the review or at the livejournal page above.

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Reach Out – Chapter 4

Wheeljack was interrupted from drafting his plans for the instability compensator he was currently working on by a small knock on the door of his lab cum berthroom. He turned from his drafting table to look at the door, fin's lighting up. Ratchet normally just entered without even announcing himself. A tradition that had stood since the two of them first started living together back when Ratchet was still an intern and Wheeljack was blowing up college assignments on a weekly basis.

"Come in," he said, already knowing who was going to be standing on the other side of the door. It slid open silently to reveal the twins. He smiled under his mask, lighting up his fin's in a friendly triple flash. The two of them were stood side by side, one smiling, and the other frowning.

"Hi," Sideswipe called out cheerfully, poking his helm into the room. Sunstreaker just stood there with a bored look in his optics.

"Hey there. Keeping out of trouble?" Wheeljack asked, turning around completely on his chair.

"Never. Are you busy? Ratchet kicked us out of the clinic and it's the offcycle so we decided to come see you," Sideswipe said, still stood waiting at the entrance.

Ratchet had set in place many rules for the twins to obey when they had started living with them. The twins were old enough to not need a constant adult presence so they could be left to their own devices. Still, Ratchet had insisted that the twins could come and go as they pleased, but they had to stay inside during the offcycle, only allowed out if they needed to go from the flat to the clinic. As for the clinic, the twins could spend time there, but they had to behave and could only stay either in Ratchet's office or the call room. They weren't allowed in the examination rooms, especially if there was a patient there and they had to be quite. When really bored, they would sit in reception and entertain the mechs and femmes waiting to be seen. Many of them, especially the older ones, were fond of the two and often complimented Ratchet for having two sweet, cleaver creation. Ratchet never corrected them.

They had adhered to the first rule set down about Wheeljack's lab. The inventor always tried to accommodate them, but there had been a few instances where he couldn't, due to either heavy work load or he was working on dangerous equipment. The twins always respected that and went to do their own thing. Wheeljack always had a niggling feeling of guilt when he couldn't spend time with the little ones, so would finish up as soon as possible to spend time with them, playing their strange games that they invented or just sit and talk with them.

"I think I've worked hard enough to have a couple of breem's break. What did you do to make the doc kick you out?" Wheeljack asked, swivelling his chair around and standing up to stretch out some of the tightness that had settled in his joints and cables.

"All we did was build a fort, and he went mental!" Sideswipe explained, entering the room and placing himself on Wheeljack's recently vacated chair.

"And what did you make this fort out of?" he asked, raising an optic ridge. One thing he had learned was that a slight twist of the truth was not above the red one. He never lied, but he omitted more incriminating parts from his tales. Sunstreaker normally just refused to say anything, content to let his brother dig their hole deeper with his compulsion to chatter on.

"Just stuff we found in his office. Mainly datapads. Dunno what he had such a glitch about, we would have put them back," Sideswipe continued as he started to spin himself around. Wheeljack laughed and groaned at the same time. Though their home and his office was mostly a complete mess, Ratchet was very methodical in how he arranged his datapads, especially the medical ones in his office. The inventor wished he had been there to see the look on the medic's faceplates when he had seen what the twins had done. That would have been a memory file worth saving.

"He only kicked us out when half-bit here asked if he wanted to be the Ick-Yak that lived in the electric lava moat, instead of saying sorry," Sunstreaker said, walking over to the centre table to watch his brother spin faster.

"I thought he'd lighten up if we included him. It's not like we broke any of them,"

"I'm starting to believe that you two like to tick him off for fun," Wheeljack mused, watching as Sunstreaker started to spin the chair, using the back of the chair as leverage. Sideswipe laughed as he grabbed the arms.

"It _is_ kinda fun to see if we can get him to swear at us," the red twin shouted as he continued to spin.

"And did he?" he couldn't deny the fact that as a responsible adult, he should admonish their behaviour, but Wheeljack himself had once or twice decided to see how far he could push the medic. The white and red mech was highly strung, and that kind of personality seemed to set off the need to antagonise in other mechs. Mechs such as himself.

"He said frag eight times. Two more would have been a new record," Sunstreaker said as he continued to push at the chair, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"How come we get told off for swearing, but he's allowed to. He's not setting a good example to impressionable younglings." Wheeljack snorted at that.

"I don't believe that you didn't know those before. It's just normal to tell younglings off for bad behaviour that adults can get away with," Wheeljack said, highly amused by the twins behaviour though slightly concerned for Sideswipe and his soon to be dizzy processor.

"Sunny, stop!" Sideswipe shouted. Sunstreaker obliged after one last heave. The chair slowly came to a halt. The red twin slumped back, his helm swaying slightly. Wheeljack guessed that his equilibrium centre would be swimming. Hopefully it wouldn't upset his tanks.

"Now you have to run up and down the hall in a straight line. You get one point for every step, lose two points every time you hit a wall and lose five if you fall over," Sunstreaker said as he grabbed his brother by an arm and pulled him off of the chair and shoved him to the door. The red one stumbled a bit as he reached the door, then after an astrosecond, began to run. Wheeljack moved to watch as Sideswipe took a few steps before veering off to the side and falling against the wall, shaking his helm, giggling slightly. He pushed himself off of the wall and tried to continue running, but ended up going sideways and hitting the other wall, before falling to his knees. Laughing, he tried to get up, but stumbled and fell on his side, laughing manically. He rolled on his back and creased up. Wheeljack shook his helm. Younglings were weird at times.

"Minus eleven points," Sunstreaker said as he walked over to his brother, who's laughing had subsided to quite giggles interspersed by deep intakes of oxygen. The yellow twin prodded his brother with a yellow pede in the abdomen.

"No way," Sideswipe gasped, grabbing his brother's pede and pulling on his leg, causing Sunstreaker to lose balance and fall, half on top of his brother. The yellow twin shifted his weight till he was partially sat, partially laid on his brother, pinning him down.

"Yeah! Your glitched processor can't compute simple numbers, making you inferior. That's why, being the superior twin, I am sat on you, cause the best are always on top!" Sunstreaker cried out as his brother tried to buck him off. They continued to wrestling around. Sideswipe tried but failed to knock his brother off completely.

"Get off me glitch face!" Sideswipe yelled, he almost pushed Sunstreaker off, but the yellow twin managed to wrestle him into submission. Wheeljack watched with amusement, ready to jump in if it got out of hand. It was refreshing to see the two completely relaxed and carefree enough to just let go and enjoy being younglings while they still could. They'd have to start thinking about their upgrade soon, though the actual construction of adult chassis' wouldn't take long, not when they had both and engineer and medic looking out for them. Hopefully they would grow out of the wresting by that time. They didn't need two full grown mechs rampaging around.

"See, you're still on the bottom, substandard!" Sunstreaker said again, sitting on his brother's back prodding the red helm below him.

"Only cause your big aft is full of ego! No one could lift that much weight!" Sideswipe called, trying to leaver himself up.

"Language, little one," Wheeljack said, walking forward. He took hold of Sunstreaker's scruff bar and lifted him off of his brother, setting him down next to the other. Sideswipe pushed himself to stand up, rubbing his helm.

"See? Double standards," Sideswipe mumbled. Sunstreaker nodded then turned to face Wheeljack.

"So, according to you, it's ok for adults to swear," he said, obviously they had been paying attention to the earlier conversation. Wheeljack scratched his fins.

"I meant that adults get away with it more, not that it's right for them to do it," Wheeljack explained as he walked back to his lab, followed closely by the twins. Once back inside, Sideswipe meandered over to the berth and hefted himself up while Sunstreaker sat on the chair swaying it from side to side but refrained from spinning himself.

"So when we upgrade, we'll be able to swear. Or at least get away with it." Wheeljack sighed at Sunstreaker. He couldn't find a clever enough argument that wouldn't make him sound like a hypocrite. Sparkling logic always seemed to be the most brutal form of logic.

"Technically."

"When I upgrade, I'm gonna spend a whole cycle swearing. In front of Ratchet," Sideswipe said as he knelt on the bed looking around the room, probably for something else to occupy his attention with. It amazed Wheeljack how easily Sideswipe succumb to his boredom. At least Sunstreaker could occupy himself for hours if he found the right pastime, which mostly happened to be drawing.

"Good luck with that. Don't come to me when he knocks your helm off though," Wheeljack said as he began rummaging through one of the many draws off to the side before he found out what he was looking for and threw it at Sideswipe after he closed the draw. The twin caught the cube and stared at it. Each side had a different colour and seemed to be made of nine smaller cubes. He frowned as he shook it before squeezing it. He looked at Wheeljack, utterly confused.

"Rotate the sides," the inventor said as he leaned against the drawers. The twin turned his attention back to the cube. Roughly, he turned one side towards him, surprise clearly etched onto his face as the left side, coloured white, rotated. Sunstreaker slipped off of the chair and walked over to the berth his brother was perched on. Sideswipe leaned forwards to show his brother the movement. The red twin began to try every other side before him looked back up at Wheeljack.

"What is it?" he asked. Wheeljack chuckled and approached the berth, gently taking the cube from the twin and began turning it.

"It's a puzzle cube. I made it as part of a project when I was younger. Basically you mix up the sides until they're all jumbled and then try to make each side match again. See?" he held out the cube again. This time all the colours were mixed up. Sideswipe took it again and began to twist it, this time with a purpose. The youngling was instantly pacified as he concentrated on the cube. He ideally wished that it would keep the red one occupied for a few orns.

"How long does it take to complete? Twist the top," Sunstreaker asked, optics glued to his brothers hands and the cube.

"It took me a few cycles, and I made the thing," he replied well naturedly. He didn't feel like telling them that Ratchet had figured it out in twelve breems. That mech was too smart for his own good, and had no problem telling you just how good he was. A bit like the yellow twin, who was now pointing at the cube and instructing his brother, who snapped at him to back off.

"Whatever glitch face," Sunstreaker mumbled and went back to Wheeljack, who was now sat at his desk again.

"So, when _will_ we be able to upgrade?" the yellow one had seemed more eager about the upgrade since Ratchet had first mentioned it all those quartex's ago.

"That's hard to say. We don't know how old you are, so we're having to guess from your CPU development. Unless you know how old you are," Wheeljack said, rubbing his mask and looking at the youngling.

"Dunno. A million stella-cycles?" Sunstreaker said with a shrug that spoke of not actually caring about their ages or past.

"I doubt that. Cybertronians aren't younglings for long, compared to the rest of their lives. You're probably only seven vorns old. Give it another one and you might be ready, if we think you're ready that is," Wheeljack hypothesised. He had learned enough to earn him the official title of 'assistant medic', but his main experience came with patching mechs up. All the other stuff was left to Ratchet, the qualified doctor.

"How does the upgrade work?"

"Well, normally a body is built. Mainly by an engineer and a medic. The engineer creates the base structure and all the components and the medic puts it all together as well as installing energon and coolant lines, making sure the body is medically sound," he paused, making sure the youngling was following. Sunstreaker was nodding, a slight frown on his faceplates.

"Once made and ready, it's just a simple operation to move and upgrade the Lasercore containing the spark to the new body." Upgrades did count towards a large portion of work that medical centres did and many places did have a team of engineers on staff for chassis construction as well as maintenance and other jobs. It was the main reason that colleges always teamed up the two different classes for joint projects, so they get used to working with each other and form connection for working together in the future. It was how he and Ratchet had first met.

"Will you be making our next bodies?" Sunstreaker asked. The youngling seemed to have followed the conversation so far. Good for him. He looked over to Sideswipe. The red youngling was completely absorbed in his task. He had even stuck his glossa out as he frowned at the cube. Wheeljack found it endearing.

Wheeljack considered the question. He hadn't actually thought about it, but it did seem that, being their guardians, he and Ratchet would be the ones to build their chassis'. He had engineered many in the past, from sparkling frames to final upgrades. It was the main way they financed the clinic. Ratchet had wanted to open a free clinic in one of the more impoverished parts, to bring medical care to those who couldn't afford it otherwise. Wheeljack had agreed to help in the endeavour and they both turned their backs on more promising, prestigious careers to slide into obscurity. Ratchet spent most of the cycle in the tiny clinic, treating people. Wheeljack would help in the capacity he could, being a certified assistant medic. The rest were volunteers who came and went as they could.

A free clinic it was, but it still cost time and energy to run. That was where Wheeljack's talents came into it in full. He sold his talent for invention and engineering. Most of it was frame building, some were upgrades to equipment, or maintenance in and around the area. What he really relished most in was the requests for him to invent. Anything from a simple light projector for some mech's creation, to the absurd, like the smog-powered security system some mad noble had wanted. Those were the commissions he relished. Creating something from scratch. The plans, the taxing concepts, the trial and error and, of course, the explosions. Deep down, he knew he was everything that people thought of when they imagined a mad scientist, and that suited him fine.

Wheeljack looked at the yellow twin, his faceplates set in an honest, if slightly pouting, and inquisitive look.

"Hm. I guess we'll have to. You can't remain that short forever. Unless you want to be a minibot," the inventor said, rubbing his mask in mock consideration. Sunstreaker looked slightly askance at the mention of not being any taller than he was at that moment.

"I wanna be taller, and yellow. And black! I want a black helm. But I wanna be a different yellow, this is too bright. And I wanna transform into the fastest hovercar ever," Sunstreaker suddenly began reeling off requirement. Evidently he had been thinking of this pretty seriously. Did he really want to grow up so quickly? Wheeljack shook his helm with a wry smile, mentally noting down what the youngling was wanting, even if certain bits did contradict others.

Sideswipe, sensing his brothers excitement and noticing that he was suddenly more talkative than normal, babbling away as he was, dividing his attention between the cube in hand and the other two. Soon he began adding in what he would like. He wanted to be red and white and maybe green and orange and blue, which Sunstreaker had vetoed, due to clashing colours.

"I can be multicoloured if I want, right Wheeljack?"

"It's up to you little buddy,"

"No it's not! You'll look stupid, and you'll embarrass me by association. Green and orange clash!" Sunstreaker had cried, clearly exasperated by the changing colour schemes. The inventor had noticed that the yellow one was more artistic, having an optic for detail and colour. He had always taken an interest in Wheeljack's schematics on his drafting table, and always offering that if the blueprints needed any colouring in, he would do it. The few drawings he had seen the twin work on were really good, even if he had drawn all over Ratchet's notepads.

"How about, you draw up what you want to look like and I'll try to engineer it for you. I can't guarantee it will look exactly like you want, but it'll be close to how you want to look," Wheeljack cut through what was going to turn into another argument. Sideswipe shrugged an okay and went back to the cube. Sunstreaker looked positively giddy as Wheeljack swivelled his chair and dug out a spare drawingpad and stylus, handing it to the yellow one.

As soon as it was in his hand, the twin sat himself down on the floor next to Wheeljack's chair and began to scribble. The inventor looked between both twins, both absorbed in their tasks. He chuckled to himself and set about his own forgotten work.

O o O o O o O

Many, many breems later, Ratchet entered the lab, stopping to stare at the sight in front of him. Wheeljack was busy at the centre table, soldering a circuit board. Sunstreaker was now sat on Wheeljack's chair, bent over a drawingpad, scribbling away. Sideswipe was laid on his back, one leg bent, resting his other ankle on his bent knee. He had Wheeljack's puzzle cube in his hand, held above him, turning it furiously. Ratchet stared at the three of them dumbfounded for a moment before voicing the first thought that drifted across his processor.

"How in the pit do you get them to be quiet?" he asked incredulously as he approached the bench. All three looked at the medic, apparently none of them had heard his entre the room. Then all three began talking at once. His optics widened as he was informed simultaneously that Wheeljack was going to build their bodies and he wanted Sunstreaker to draw them, that Sideswipe had already completed part of the cube, but was stuck and that Wheeljack just seemed to have a calming influence on younglings.

The medic's optic twitched as he raised a hand to halt them. All three fell silent together. Ratchet sighed and rubbed the back of his helm.

"One at a time please?"

"I'm drawing what I want my adult form to look like, and Wheeljack is gonna make it! Sideswipe's too I guess," Sunstreaker said, cutting in front of everyone else and hopping down off of the chair to show Ratchet the drawings he had already done. Ratchet had to admit, Sunstreaker was very talented when it came to art. He took in the sketches, noting the colour gradient and smooth lines.

"Yellow and black hm? I like the helm, what are these?" he asked, pointing at the side of the helm, at two fins with yellow colouration.

"Audial vents I guess. Don't they look cool?" Sunstreaker said, taking the pad back and resumed to draw as he sat back down. Ratchet laughed to himself.

"I'm gonna have a jetpack!" Sideswipe suddenly said as he had resumed his fiddling with the cube.

"Absolutely not. You can't even be trusted on two pedes, let alone in the air," Ratchet said, shaking his helm. Seriously, putting jet fuel on the bot's back was just asking for trouble, but the glint in Wheeljack's optics told him that the engineer had already had ideas on how to design it. Looks like he'd be spending time putting the red one back together. The red twin pouted and turned back to the cube, mumbling something about 'mean old Ick-Yaks'. The medic chose to ignore it.

"Calming influence huh?" Ratchet said to his friend, remembering the reply he had received. Wheeljack flashed his fins and turned his attention to the circuit board.

"I guess. It's all about personality. Younglings feed off of the energy of others. If you're high strung, it can set them off," came the explanation. Ratchet narrowed his optics but kept his temper in check.

"I know, but don't you think a lackadaisical attitude can also cause younglings to act up, if they believe that they can get away with any sort of behaviour and there are no consequences?" he replied, keeping his voice measured. Psychology may not have interested him as much as other disciplines within medicine, but, as with everything, he had been one of the top in his class. Naturally.

"No matter how they are raised, or who they are with, they will always push against any authority," Wheeljack replied off handily picking up another capacitor and began soldering again.

"They are testing boundaries, but if they never reach a limit, they will continue to push further into counterproductive behaviour. At least when they reach a boundary and are then reprimanded, they learn to respect it and behave."

"And do they?" there were three flashes of his fins and Ratchet scowled. He remained glaring at Wheeljack's bent helm. He managed a terse smile and looked at both twins. Both were ignoring the mechs. He couldn't come up with a retort other than 'frag you' so decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, I just came to say that I've finally finished seeing the patients and was about to begin tidying my office. And I want the twins to help," he said, which instantly got identical looks of incredulous shock and protests forming on their lips. Wheeljack shook his helm.

"Are these those consequences?" Wheeljack asked, scratching his fin as the twins continued to protest. Ratchet as beginning to get annoyed with the other mechs constant amusement.

"I said sorry! It's not my fault bitbrain called you an Ick-Yak!"

"We were just playing! It was a game, we didn't break any!"

"I don't care. If you make a mess while 'playing', then you have to tidy up after yourselves. It's only fair. Now move," Ratchet said sweetly, pointing to the door. Both twins grumbled as they made their way out of the door.

"Can I take this?" Sideswipe held up the cube as he was about the leave the room.

"Sure thing, you can have it till you solve it," Wheeljack said, waving to the twins as they slowly trooped out, as if helming for the smelting chamber.

As Ratchet turned to leave, he threw Wheeljack a venomous glare.

"And I am _not_ high-strung," he snapped, turning on his heels and leaving. He almost turned back to beat the other mech as he started laughing raucously.

O o O o O o O

A/N: Next time – Jalaperilo changes the genre of the fic due to unrelenting angst and suffering.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Work and social life took over for the festive season. This chapter takes a step away from the mood set by the previous chapters. Some of the content may be upsetting to some people. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! There will be more light hearted chapters, as well as others of a more serious nature, and the follow up story to this (that I have mentioned previously) will have a serious tone as well. Commentary at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com.

O o O o O o O

Reach Out – Chapter 5

In the end, it wasn't one of Wheeljack's possessions that almost killed one of them, it was Ratchet's. The twins had actually listened to the medic's request that they stay out of Wheeljack's room when he wasn't there to supervise them. He hadn't said anything else about the rest of the home though.

Succumbing to their boredom easily, they made it their mission to explore the entire place while the adults were out. One place that they always ended up was Ratchet's berthroom. Though they slept there when they first moved in, the entire place seemed foreign to them. It was cluttered with parts, instruments and datapads. Sunstreaker had read some of them, but had little understanding of medical journals or the jargon in them. The few fictional books he found were more interesting, but he grew bored of them as well. Whenever he had found a pad that he could draw on, he would sit down and start sketching his designs for their eventual adult forms.

Sunstreaker had been excited about the fact that they would no longer be younglings. He had tried to hide it, badly, when Wheeljack had told them that if they brought him pictures of how they would like to look, he would engineer their bodies. So Sunstreaker sat and drew, coming up with all sorts of different visions, with heavy injection from his brother about how he wanted to look. That had caused some arguments, and even a small scrap that Wheeljack had had to break up, separating them both for a short time.

This particular cycle, he was sat under the berth of Ratchets room quietly drawing away and keeping to himself. Sideswipe, on the other hand, had decided that today was the day that he investigated the small wall cabinet off the side. He had found it locked, but that had made him more determined to get inside. Sunstreaker sighed as his brother began looking through the drawers of Ratchet's desk to find something that would open it.

"It's probably got more datapads or parts in there. You'll be disappointed," he said, not looking up from the pad. He was currently drawing a side view of the chassis he wanted.

"Yeah, but all his boring stuff is out in the open, so that means the good stuff is hidden away. Like treats, or a severed helm! How cool would that be?" Sideswipe replied, not one to be easily dissuaded from a mission. He seemed to find a laser cutter and made his way back to the cabinet. Sunstreaker barely lifted his helm as he heard the buzz of the laser and the hiss of metal being cut.

"Severed helms aren't cool. Remember when we found that arm? You screamed for a breem," Sunstreaker reminded his brother. It wasn't long after they had found themselves on the streets, and they were still young. The arm had fallen out of a part's receptacle as they scavenged for anything they might need. Sideswipe had been terrified. So had the yellow twin, but he had kept his helm and threw it back before dragging his twin back to the little hole they had found to recharge in.

"Well, yeah, but we were little then. We're almost adults now. We won't scream."

"You screamed."

"Shut up," Sideswipe countered before a clunk of metal hitting metal resonated in the air. The red twin grinned widely as the lock fell away and the door swung open with a creek.

Sunstreaker's curiosity got the better of him and he put the drawing pad down and shuffled himself from under the berth. He walked over to his brother's side before peering into the cabinet. He frowned when he saw that all it contained was four cubes of energon.

"Disappointed yet?" he asked, casting a sidelong smirk at his brother, who was looking at they cubes in confusion, before his faceplates lit up.

"This must be special, super energon!" he said as he reached forwards and took the nearest cube, obviously adult sized.

"It's probably just regular energon," Sunstreaker replied, rolling his optics and crossing his arms. It amazed him sometimes at the wild things his twin could imagine. It seemed that Sunstreaker was the one who was gifted with the logical half of the spark.

"But the energon dispenser is in the other room, why lock away some cubes?" Sideswipe pondered, bringing the energon to his nasal ridge and sniffed it. It smelled sweeter and richer than regular energon. A sure sign that is was special.

"Half grade then, or medical grade," Sunstreaker replied, shaking his helm.

"Half grade is from the dispenser as well. And the medical stuff is kept downstairs. I'm telling you, special energon!" Sideswipe replied, using his own twisted logic. He brought the cube to his lips and took a sip. He smiled at Sunstreaker afterwards.

"It's great! Best energon I've ever had! Have some!" He cried as he held the cube to his brother. Sunstreaker shied away from it and shook his helm.

"I can only have half grade remember. Put it back before Ratchet gets back and rivets you to the ceiling," he said, pushing the cube back to his brother.

"He's not going to mind me having one cube. I just won't have one later," Sideswipe replied before drinking more. A small knot of worry began to curl in Sunstreaker's tank. Regardless of it being all Sideswipe's plan, he knew he would be blamed as well for breaking into the cabinet and drinking the energon.

"You shouldn't drink it. Ratchet locked it away for a reason," he pleaded with his brother, furrowing his optic ridges as Sideswipe kept drinking the energon. He had already had three quarters of it.

"Stop it Sides, you're not supposed to drink that much energon!" Sunstreaker yelled, physically grabbing the cube from his brother. "You'll end up purging if you drink all that!"

Younglings were only supposed to drink a mini cube, as that's all their small bodies needed. Sideswipe would probably be uncomfortably full for the rest of the cycle, with the amount he had consumed. Sunstreaker put the cube back in the cabinet and began to walk back over to the berth, content to draw until Ratchet came back and shouted at them both for breaking the lock. He sighed heavily. He hoped that Wheeljack came back first, at least they had a chance to reason with the inventor.

"If I get punished, I'm gonna make Wheeljack make you into a minibot," Sunstreaker said as he picked up pad and pen, turning back to his twin.

Sideswipe was holding his helm, shaking slightly. Sunstreaker dropped the pad and walked over to his brother.

"I don't feel well Sunny," his brother whispered before he groaned and fell to his knees. Sunstreaker's arms flew out to catch his brother as he hit the ground. The yellow twin had always had an energon intolerance, and had felt the unsettling effect of it in his tanks for most of his short life, but he had never been effected like this. He reached out across their bond. He reeled back as he felt the pain in his brother's tanks, his spark beat and engine speeding up.

He drew back from the bond just as Sideswipe purged his tanks on the floor. A sob followed afterwards as Sideswipe clutched his abdominal plating.

"Sunny..." he whispered shaking violently. Sunstreaker kept his arm around his brother's shoulders, holding him close

"I'm gonna go call Ratchet. He'll ix you," he whispered into his brother's audio receptors before standing up and turning to run out of the berthroom. It pained him to leave his brother while he was in such agony, a pain that was searing through their bond. He ran towards the call button on the wall that linked them with Ratchet's communicator. As he hit the chime repeatedly to get Ratchets attention, he kept repeating his lasts words in his helm. _Ratchet can make him better, he can fix anything._

O o O o O o O o O

Ratchet was just about to call for the next patient when his communicator began to beep repeatedly. He frowned as the small display showed that it was from the flat above them. He sighed and hoped that the twins hadn't broken anything important. He hit the small red button on the side.

"Ratchet here," he said as he flicked through the medical file in front of him. He exited the exam room and made his way towards his office to file it away.

"_Ratchet! You gotta help Sides. He drank something and now he's really ill! You have to fix him! Please Ratchet!"_ Sunstreaker's fear filled voice shouted through the . It made Ratchet still in his pace. The fact that Sunstreaker was clearly panicking meant that something terrible had happened. He turned and began to run down the corridor. Towards the entrance.

"I'm on my way, go back to Sides and stay with him," he said, his voice tight and controlled. He ran through the reception, throwing the datapad in his hands at a stunned volunteer, barking at him to file it for him.

He ran up the stairwell and burst through the door of his home, yelling Sunny's name.

"Ratchet!" the little voice came from the berthroom. Ratchet ran towards it and surveyed the scene in front of him. Sideswipe was laying on his side, holding his arms over his abdomen and shaking next to a pool of purged energon, his helm in Sunny's lap. He caught sight of the open cabinet to the right. His optics widened as he saw the almost empty cube of high grade on the side.

"Frag!" he said as he entered the room quickly and knelt down next to the two. He began scanning over the red twins system. His engine was firing rapidly, tank churning dangerously and the beat of his spark was beating ferociously. His little cooling fans were working at full speed, trying to keep the core temperature down. Ratchet's HUD began flashing information at him. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a severe case of energon poisoning.

"How much did he drink?" Ratchet asked as he took a hold of Sideswipe and pulled him from Sunstreaker's lap, turning him onto his side.

"Most of it," the yellow twin answered, visibly shaking, optics glued to his brothers moaning form.

"Did you drink any?"

"No. I told him to stop! I told him not to! You can fix him right?" came the panicked reply. Ratchet glanced up at the youngling before he returned his attention to the red one.

"Sideswipe. Can you hear me? Don't fight it if you need to purge," he said as he turned the twin over more, holding him up by his chest so that the twin was facing downwards. A sob wracked the small frame before another wave of energon was purged. Sunstreaker scrabbled backwards, narrowly avoiding being covered. His optics widened as his brother started convulsing.

"Fragging Primus!" Ratchet yelled, scooping up the little body and began to stand. "We need to get him to the clinic!" he yelled as he turned and began to run out of the room and towards the entrance. He heard Sunstreaker following behind him. In no time at all, Ratchet had bolted down the stairs and was already through the front door and sidestepping through the inner doors as they slowly opened. He paid no attention to the few startled mechs in the foyer and bellowed for Wheeljack to meet him in the emergency room.

He reached the first ER and placed the tiny body on the berth, still shaking violently as his engine misfired. Sunny had followed at a slower rate and was now stood near the entrance. Wheeljack entered moments later, stilling as he took in the scene.

"What happened?"

"High grade poisoning. I need the tank pump, a bag of cleanser and a bag of half grade. He needs to be flushed!" Ratchet yelled as he opened Sideswipe's chest and removed his abdominal plates, once more scanning the little ones internals. He extended one of his tools from his middle digit and began to loosen the tank from under the pump, which was proving to be difficult with the little body convulsing violently. The sound of his engine and the cooling fans almost drowned out the terrified sobs coming from the end of the berth where Sunstreaker watched in horror.

Wheeljack quickly collected the equipment and brought it to the medic. Ratchet snatched the pump and placed it beside Sideswipe. Wheeljack brought over a dish for the excess to be drained into then began to spike the bags, ready to be funnelled into the small body.

Ratchet caught sight of Sunstreaker, holding his own chest and shaking. He must have been feeling everything his twin was feeling.

"Jack, look after Sunny," he barked as he began to attach the pump to the tank. Wheeljack moved away from the berth and picked up the yellow twin, cradling him close. Ratchet began the pump. Slowly siphoning off the excess in his tanks.

As the medic readied the drip of cleanser that would help flush the high grade already circulating Sideswipe's body, the tiny engine spluttered once before stalling, all his systems going silent at once, the only sound now a slowly depleting spark beat.

"Frag!" Ratchet yelled over the wail of despair and pain that suddenly emitted from Sunstreaker. The medic turned around and grabbed the defibrillator, fingers already flying over the controls. The machine whirled alive, a high pitched whine signalling that is was charging up. The medic pulled the machine next to the medberth and uncoiled the wires.

"Ratchet!" Sunstreaker cried out, clutching his chest tighter, shaking violently in Wheeljack's arms. The older mech was stood, holding the yellow twin closely and whispering to him to try and calm him down, his optics wide with fear.

Oblivious to this, Ratchet attached the cables to the small engine and turned back to the machine, setting the amplitude before pressing the button that sent a shock of electricity through the engine block, hoping to restarts it. Sideswipes body bucked from the shock. The engine failed to fire at all.

"Primus please," he whispered as he sent another shock. Again it failed to do anything.

"I can't feel him!"

"Primus, you can't have them," he said as he turned up the amplifier and shocked again. This time the engine fired but died once more.

Another wail from Sunstreaker filled the room.

"Please! They're not yours to take!" he yelled as he shocked again. This time the engine fired up with a ferocious rev before settling to tick over quietly. The energon pump began to move again in time with the tank pump that resumed its siphoning. The twin was no longer convulsing, his engine idling as if he was in recharge.

Ratchet had no time to stop in relief though, as he picked up the end of the disregarded spike and inserted it into one of the main energon lines at Sideswipe's shoulder joint. The fluid flooded the lines and his body began to push the excess fluid back into his tank before it was drawn into the tank pump. Ratchet then fed the bag of half grade into the drip of cleanser, turning the cleanser down. He watched the fluids drain into the small body.

Wheeljack moved from his position at the foot of the berth and over to the next medberth to sit on it, Sunstreaker still in his lap, who was clinging to the inventors armour. After a breem of just standing there in silence, monitoring the energon levels, continually scanning the red twin, Ratchet stopped the cleanser and slowed the half grade down to a normal level. He disconnected the pump and, after one last scan, replaced the red plating and closed the chest. Sideswipe was deep in recharge and probably would stay that way till the oncycle.

Ratchet leaned forward, resting his hands on the berth and lowered his helm, his shoulders slumped and he offlined his optics and drew in a large circulation of air before releasing it. To be truthful to himself, he had panicked. For the first time in orns, he had felt a genuine stab of fear as he worked on a patient. He belatedly realised that his own spark beat had been beating faster throughout.

"Is he ok?" Sunstreaker whispered. Ratchet onlined his optics and looked over to where the yellow twin was huddled against the inventor, his faceplates in an uncharacteristic expression of total worry, optics wide and lip trembling.

Ratchet straightened up and walked around the berth that Sideswipe was on to stand next to the two. He ran a finger down the small yellow helm.

"His systems are stable, but we need to monitor him during the offcycle. He'll be very ill for the next few days, but he's going to be ok," he said softly, looking down upon the yellow twin. Sunstreaker nodded and held out his arms, wanting to be held by Ratchet. The medic took the youngling from his friend and held him close. Sunstreaker rested his helm upon Ratchet's square shoulder joints and relaxed.

"I felt him disappear. I was all alone. That was worse than the pain," Sunstreaker whispered, resting a hand upon the glass windshield. The medic trailed red hand down the arm. A small yellow hand reached out to hold onto the red one.

"I knew you could fix him," he said, gripping it tight. Ratchet cycled air in his vents and let out a sigh. He didn't have the heart to tell the small bot that he almost didn't. He held the yellow youngling closer.

"You can fix anything."

O o O o O o O

Ratchet sat in a chair next to the helm of the medberth, watching the two recharging forms. Sunstreaker had refused to be separated from him brother for the night when Ratchet suggested he needed to recharge. After some careful manoeuvring, Sunstreaker had settled onto Sideswipe's left hand side, mindful not to jostle his twin too much, who was still hooked up to the drip.

It was now late into the offcycle and Ratchet was keeping a vigil over the two. He ran a scan over the twin's every so often, more of a reminder to himself that they were there. Still with them. He sighed and tilted his helm back.

He heard the door open softly, letting Wheeljack into the room, with two cubes of energon in hand. Ratchet groaned as he eyed the cube.

"I've had enough of energon for at least a vorn," he whispered, taking the proffered cube and placing it on the medical cart next to him. Wheeljack lit his fins up and sat on the berth just behind him.

"I cleaned it all up. I think the smell has gone as well," Wheeljack replied softly, retracting his blast mask to take a sip. Ratchet didn't think he could face going back to his berthroom, not with all the purged energon still lying around, just like it had been when he had first entered the room. He wished he could get that image out of his processor. He knew it would probably haunt him till he joined the matrix.

"I've seen a lot in my time. I've seen worst sights, but when I saw them... I was terrified. If Sunny hadn't called...," Ratchet trailed off, slumping forwards, resting his elbows on his thighs.

"Ratchet-,"

"It's all my fault. I should have known they'd get past the lock. I should have kept it in the office, or got rid of it all together. I shouldn't have left them alone."

"It's no one's fault. Younglings are younglings, regardless of whether you're there or not. They're curious by programming and the twins _are_ old enough to be left alone," Wheeljack said, resting a hand on the medic's shoulder.

"I took them in so that they would be safe. Less than a vorn in and I almost killed them," Ratchet whispered, initiating another scan of the sleeping forms. Both where still there.

"No one would think it was your fault. The only one blaming you is yourself."

Ratchet sighed. He knew that Wheeljack was right, but he still blamed himself. Even Sunstreaker's whispered proclamation of his belief in Ratchet's talents couldn't stop the torrent of self loathing he felt. He couldn't escape the horrible truth that only he seemed to see. He had failed them both.

He remembered one moment, quartex's ago. Ratchet and Wheeljack had finally cordoned off part of the main room that finally gave them their own berthroom. It was a small room, with two small berths and a few items that they had collected as their own since they had moved in. Late one offcycle, after he had finished his shift in the clinic, he had poked his head in, to check on them. It was their first offcycle in the room and he wanted to make sure that they were ok. Unsurprisingly, they were both on one berth, facing each other and deep in recharge. Ratchet had smiled softly at the sight. He had never regretted taking them in, but at that moment, his conviction was at its strongest. He _had_ done the right thing.

Had he?

"How was Sunstreaker?" he asked, wanting to know what effects his brother had had on him through the bond. He vaguely remembered the twin shouting something about not feeling him, and revealing that he had been scared of being alone for the first time in his life. Was it like what everyone else felt, his tiny mind not understanding the concept of not being linked to another, never having been unbonded before?

"He didn't stop shaking. He actually panicked when Sideswipe's engine died. While you were resuscitating, his engine began to misfire, spark beat slowed. It was like his body was following his brother," Wheeljack said sliding off of the berth and standing next to the twins, now in Ratchets field of vision. Ratchet glanced up at his friend. Without the mask, he could plainly see the frown on Wheeljack's faceplates as he looked upon the recharging forms.

Ratchet nodded at the information. The few medical records of split spark twin he had read since he had first met the twins had all recorded that when one twin dies, the other usually follows soon after. Whether that was through choice or not was debatable. The twins in front of his seem to support the argument that it was involuntary.

It seemed to be both a burden and a curse. To forever be linked to another who loves you implicitly, only have your life taken away when they eventually join the matrix. Much like a spark bonded couple. Many partners normally followed their bonded into offlining soon afterwards. It was possible to survive, but most seemed to find their life empty without their love.

Maybe that could happen with twins, if one had the will to live on? It was puzzling, and unanswerable. Ratchet never wanted to find the answer to that question.

"You should go get some recharge. I'll stay with them," Wheeljack offered, motioning to the door. Ratchet shook his helm.

"I'll be ok. I promised Sunny I'd be here when he woke up," he replied, leaning back in the chair and settling himself in for a long offcycle.

It had been nine vorns since the medic had prayed to Primus, but for the second time that night, he asked the god to help watch over the two.

O o O o O o O

Sunstreaker's optics came online as he felt a fractional movement next to him and a stirring in his spark. He lifted his helm to look into Sideswipe's hazy optics. His brother's recharge laden faceplates twisted slightly as he shifted to settle closer to the yellow one. Sunstreaker reached out and placed a hand on his brother's chest, a familial gesture of a shared connection. He rested his forehelm to his brothers.

::I still feel ill:: the statement drifted softly into Sunstreaker's processor. He inhaled deeply and lay back, never breaking optics with his brother. He wanted to shout at Sideswipe, to hit him and tell him he was an idiot and that he deserved to be ill, but he couldn't. He was just thankful that he still had his brother, that his brother was awake. That he was going to be ok. Sunstreaker couldn't reply, so he just sent his feelings and emotions over their bond as he curled closer to his brother, both of them drifting back into recharge.

::I love you too:: he heard echo through as he initiated.

O o O o O o O

A/N: Next time – The dysfunctional family unit take a trip to the Cybertron Zoo. Also, if you wanna see any situation turn up in this story before the twins finally grow up, then drop me a line via review or PM!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: THIS CHAPTER KICKED MY ARSE! Oh god it just wouldn't end! Yes it goes on and on my friend! I ran out of time and was still only 5500 words into the chapter and here no way I could finish it in time, so I've split the chapter into two parts, to give myself another week to finish. I really didn't want to rush it, as the writing style was becoming sloppy! Also, to all those who I promised that this will be out on Monday at the latest... it technically is still Monday somewhere in the world.

Commentary at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com

O o O o O o O

Reach Out – Chapter 6

Overexcitement was what Wheeljack had called it. An eight cycle long pain in the aft was more fitting in Ratchet's CPU. It was an astrosecond too late that he realised he'd made a big mistake telling the twins that he and Wheeljack would take them to the Cybertron zoo. It was only as he saw both of their faceplates light up, only moments before they had erupted into excited shouting that he regretted telling them then, instead of waiting until the actual day. It seemed that the cacophony of noise hadn't actually stopped for those eight cycles, even after telling them exactly when they were going, how they were getting there, what time they were setting off, what time they would leave, if they could have energon treats, if they could see every animal there, telling them what animals they would see, if there would be other younglings and every other primus forsaken question that had been thrown his way. Ratchet had thought to threaten them to shut up by not taking them, but that would probably create more noise. At least he would know better next time.

The suggestion had come to his processor suddenly, though he had known that he needed to do something for the twins. Sideswipe's recovery had been slower than he had predicted, the young one was still feeling the effects of the poisoning almost an orn after the incident. It had taken his youthful exuberance from him, making him a lot more subdued during his convalescence. Sunstreaker had become near silent, whether that was feeding off from his brother's illness or his own worry. The melancholy that had fallen over the home had continued past Sideswipe being declared fit enough to consume midgrade again.

That was the reason neither one was punished. They had suffered enough. They did get a stern lecture from both mechs but it was a half hearted admonishment, especially from Ratchet. How could he place any blame on them if he placed it all on himself. Wheeljack had stepped in and talk to them in a low, neutral voice. The twins had looked thoroughly miserable and it unsettled both adults.

Behind closed doors, they had discussed the situation one offcycle. Ratchet had expressed his opinion that the twins needed to be watched over by either one of them, to make sure they didn't injure themselves again, as well as reassuring his peace of mind that they were going to be okay. This opinion he kept to himself. Wheeljack disagreed. They were old enough to look after themselves and one incident shouldn't change that. It would give them confidence and the chance to mature. That discussion had turned into a heated argument, their first in many vorns. They had shouted at each other for almost two breems before Ratchet had stormed out of the home to go for a long drive and a longer drink.

He had returned at the beginning of the oncycle, slightly overcharged, to find Wheeljack in the clinic treating a patient. The twins were deep in recharge in the call room just down the corridor. Apparently, they had heard the entire argument and didn't want Wheeljack to leave them alone upstairs in case he left as well. Ratchet offlined his optics for many astroseconds before finally giving up. Grudgingly, he admitted that Wheeljack was kinda, sorta right. In a way. Wheeljack had laughed, wounding Ratchet's pride even more, but he swallowed down his frustration.

With the patient seen to, they both made their way to the call room to wake the twins and take them back upstairs. Sideswipe's first question as he cleared the last of the recharge program from his CPU was where he had been. Ratchet shook his helm and told him that he just needed some time to think, and that he'd always come back to them. Sideswipe nodded, while Sunstreaker, who had onlined as well just looked off to the side. The next question from Sideswipe was where was his puzzle cube. Almost four stella cycle had passed since he had started it. He was almost finished, but seemed to either end up in the same position he was in originally, or he'd ruin it completely and have to start again. Ratchet chuckled and the red twin smiled slightly. The first smile he had seen in a long time. It was then that he had decided that he wanted to do something for the twins, to end the unsettling gloomy pall between them all. That was when he had decided on the Cybertron zoo.

Oh, how he regretted not having a better filter between his CPU and vocaliser.

So with some planning, Ratchet had managed to free himself and Wheeljack from the clinic for an entire cycle. The medic had worried about leaving the medical facility, even though he trusted the volunteers he had drafted in. It was the first time he had left for so long since they had set up shop. Wheeljack had tried to alleviate the doctor's worry in the only way that seemed to work on Ratchet. He teased him mercilessly about being an over-torque nanny-bot until he lost his temper. Ratchet had raged, the twins laughed and chimed in and all concern about the treatment centre was forgotten. That was before they had even set off.

The zoo itself was located three hundred megamiles away and journey would take over half a joor to make. It was the only one of its kind on the planet. The entire place was populated by mechanical versions of organic animals from all over the galaxy. The idea was first dreamed up at the Crystal City College by a few mechs who were studying xenobiology. The department had originally wanted to bring back actual organic life to showcase, but it was near impossible to transport specimens _and_ keep them alive once they had arrived back on the planet. That was when someone had come up with creating replicas for study. The college developed quite a collection of mechanical animals before an enterprising individual had had the idea to house them all together for the public to view. Since then, it had become one of the top attractions on the southern hemisphere.

The twins, overexcited at first as they rode in the two adults alt forms, quickly fell into recharge, giving Ratchet his first moment of silence in three cycles. That was soon shattered when they reached the city edge.

"We just missed the turning," Wheeljack said over the . Ratchet checked over his databanks, going over the route he had downloaded and double checked.

"No, it's the next one," he replied, continuing to hover along just above the speed limit, a habit he had never quite grown out of.

"I'm pretty sure it is. This one takes you through the industrial sector. We need to be on the ring road," Wheeljack said back, no doubt checking his own memory banks.

"The ring road takes too long and bypasses the northern intersection, which we need to take. The next exit takes you too it," Ratchet said evenly, trying not to let his temper flare. He was getting tired of the universe proving Wheeljack right.

"Well, okay, but don't blame me when we end up asking for directions," Wheeljack warned.

Thankfully for Ratchet's battered pride, he had been right, in his own way and they had made it to the front entrance. And only three breems later than predicted. Wheeljack didn't say anything.

"Time to wake up little buddies," Wheeljack called through his radio to both twins. Sunstreaker was the first to stir. His optics flickered as he sat up in Wheeljack's front seat. He looked around wearily before suddenly bursting into life and jumping out of the inventor, allowing the adult to transform into root mode. He stretched his joints and cables as he watched the yellow twin run over Ratchet and knock on the medic's windscreen.

"Wake up Sides, we're here!" he called out as Ratchet began telling Sunstreaker to stop. The red twin was instantly awake and up, having stretched out across Ratchet's seats. He bounced slightly as he hastily climbed out of the medic and slammed the door behind him, much to Ratchet's discomfort. The medic finally transformed just in time to catch the twins by the scruff bars as they were about to make a break for it.

"Not so fast. I don't want either of you leaving mine or Wheeljack's side. The last thing we need is another incident," Ratchet said as the twins stilled, still caught in the medic's grip. He thought back to the last time all four of them had been out together. They had gone down to the commercial sector to pick up supplies. The day had started out peaceful enough, but ended with Ratchet having to apologise to a shopkeeper and to come up with some quick thinking and even quicker excuses made to an enforcer to stop it becoming an official incident.

"C'mon Ratch, we promise we won't do it again," Sideswipe said, turning as best as he could to give the medic an innocent smile and bright optics. Ratchet wasn't fooled at all.

"Or anything else! I want best behaviour today," he warned.

"What if something happens and it's not our fault?"came an innocent sounding question.

"That won't happen if you stay with us. No incidents!" Both twins nodded their helms, whether that was in response to Ratchet's warning or something else, neither adult knew. It gave the medic a distinctly unpleasant sinking feeling in his tank.

"Okay," they both intoned as Ratchet let go of them. The twins exchanged a short glance before they took off towards the zoo. Ratchet called out after them, telling the little glitches that they had ten astroseconds to stop running and get back. Wheeljack shook his helm and began walking after them at a leisurely pace. Ratchet couldn't help but grumble to himself about lack of respect and aching CPU's before following the others.

The twins had been stopped at the front entrance and were waiting for their guardians to catch up before they could be admited into the park.

"Looks like you two have your hands full with those younglings," the mech at the front entrance said as Ratchet passed by. The medic hummed and gave the mech a withering look which earned a loud chuckle in return.

Once inside the zoo the twins thankfully did what they were told and stayed with them, but were pointing out every little detail that they could see. All the different things that caught their optics grabbed all of their attention for a few astroseconds before something else came along. The different mechs, other younglings, shops, stalls, energon vendors and entertainers captivated them. It occurred to Ratchet at that precise moment that he had no idea if the twins had ever been anywhere like this before in their lives. They had been living with the two them for a vorn now, and he had guessed that they had been on their own on the streets for a long time before that. They were in their youngling frames, so they had at least had someone there to upgrade them at about three vorns old, but after that, who knew? Did they even know?

Why had he not thought to take them out more often? He was beginning to get tired of feeling guilty all the time as well.

"Where to first little buddies?" Wheeljack asked, walking towards the large information board that stood opposite the entrance. The map to the park was clearly displayed above them, with thin, disposable map-pads available for patrons to take. Instantly, Sideswipe took one and began scanning through all the different sections. Sunstreaker was looking over his brother's shoulder, pointing to the pad every so often. Thankfully, they had quietened.

"This certainly has changed a lot since the last time I was here," Ratchet said, scanning around him. He had been a youngling himself when he had had his first and last visit. It was strange to see it all again as an adult. It all looked vaguely familiar, but not enough to really evoke any nostalgia.

"Not for me," Wheeljack said, turning to the doctor and flashing his fins in amusement. Ratchet rolled his optics. The inventor had been, not so long ago, on a work related excursion. The zoo had contacted him and contracted Wheeljack to help calibrate the barometric sensors of their exhibits. Apparently, the company they usually used had hiked up their prices and the zoo had refused to pay, instead turning to small independent engineers, like Wheeljack to help with maintenance.

"I wanna go to see the photovoltaic cats, some of them can run faster that most mechs can hover when fully charged," Sideswipe announced, turning to Ratchet and Wheeljack and pointing at the pad in his hand.

"I want to see the aquatic animals first," Sunstreaker announced, crossing his arms as he stood slightly behind his brother, who turned back to him.

"We're going to see the cats. I asked first," he shot at his brother, walking towards the two adults.

"So what? The aquarium is nearer. I wanna go there," Sunstreaker growled as best he could, a deep scowl settling on his faceplates.

"There's plenty of time to see everything. We can start in one place and move around, we have all of the oncycle to spend here," Wheeljack, ever the diplomat, said as he took the pad from Sideswipe and began to look over it himself. Ratchet knew that that wasn't going to cut it. He may have only known the twins a vorn, but he knew when an argument was brewing, especially when they were both being stubborn.

"Yeah, starting with the cats!" Sideswipe said, pointing in a random direction.

"I don't wanna see them," Sunstreaker ground out. His whole demeanour was becoming tightly wound. It was only a matter of time before he either started a physical fight or threw a tantrum. Ratchet stepped in.

"Look, since neither of you are going to budge, why don't we split up? I'll take Sunstreaker and Wheeljack will take Sideswipe. That way, you both get what you want," he said, looking between them all. Wheeljack shrugged.

"Sure. Let's meet up in the quad in half a joor? That way we can spend the rest of the time together," the inventor suggested. Sideswipe gave an enthusiastic yes, while Sunstreaker nodded once, walking over to Ratchet's side, scowl softening slightly.

They agreed the time and place to meet and separated. The walk to the aquarium was quiet, but it was more companionable than awkward. They had to walk through the aviary to get to their destination. The cages were large and expansive, towering upwards to allow the animals within freedom to fly. All different types of birds and flying creatures flew around, the soft sound of metallic feathers brushing together and the processed mimic of organic wildlife cries filled the display. Every once in a while, Sunstreaker would stop to look at one of the exhibits, staring for a short time before continuing onwards. The youngling almost looked happy.

Ratchet contented himself with reading the information panels on each species. He had studied organic life form development and bio-medical treatment as part of his training. He found himself interested in the process that the scientists had used in order to perfectly mimic organic life. He'd have to try to contact one of his old colleagues who had specialised in that area for a long chat.

Finally, they reached the aquarium, where the duplicated marine life were held. Once inside the overly large building, they found themselves descending a flight of stairs before reaching the huge glass panel walls on either side of the large corridors that made their way through the aquarium. They walked slowly, taking their time examining the different underwater displays. Sunstreaker pressed himself up against one of the panels, watching the passing animals.

"What's that one?" he asked Ratchet, pointing at one of the life forms. Ratchet zoomed in on it before turning to the information panel.

"A hydro-weasel, I think. It's the only one that looks like a mammal," Ratchet said, still watching the four legged animal paddling up near the surface.

"What's a mammal?" came the inevitable question.

"It's a species of animal. All organic life is categorised into species and groups," Ratchet said. He didn't really want to get into a detailed explanation, as he didn't know if he could keep it simple enough for the youngling to follow.

"So, what exactly is an organic?" Sunstreaker asked, optics fixed on one of the larger motorized fishes.

"Well, it's a being that is made out of... natural matter. They grow from a single cell into multi-cellular beings. Whereas we upgrade ourselves internally and externally as we choose, they manufacture their own parts from themselves. Many have a consciousness, like us, but their systems are different. They aren't made of metal, they don't have circuits and conduits. They have their own type of system and are much more fragile than we are. They can be killed with one simple wound. It's very hard to explain without examples," Ratchet said, listing simple points that he remembered all those thousands of stellacycles ago.

"They grow their parts themselves? Like, they want another arm and they can make it appear?" Sunstreaker asked, tearing his gaze away from the display and looking at Ratchet incredulously. Ratchet shook his helm. He really did suck at simple explanations.

"No, they can't grow extra parts. They can only grow original parts as they develop," Ratchet replied. He knew it was biologically normal to other species, but out loud, it sounded ridiculous.

"So, if they have an arm removed, can they have a new one attached? Do they have to make it separately?"

"Mostly. Some species can regrow limbs, but the majority don't. Once its gone it's gone," Ratchet replied, trying to remember what kind of organic had the ability to grow new appendages. Sunstreaker had a look of confusion mixed with horror.

"Organics sound gross," Sunstreaker announced, walking towards the next window. Ratchet had to give the youngling that. They _were_ gross.

They continued on, Sunstreaker asking questions about the different animals. What was the difference between 'mammals' and 'fish'? How can they live in water if organics needed oxygen to breath? What would happen is a 'fish' was put on land? Could organics ever be made of metal? Ratchet found his limit knowledge quickly used up. He hadn't really paid attention to the module. Only enough to pass with distinction. He had no intention of leaving the planet so he'd never meet those species anyway.

They ascended another set of stairs and came out into the open air exhibit. In the centre was what appeared to be a lake, but must have been the top of one of the tanks down below. The banks were smooth metal with geometric shapes spread around. All sorts of different animals were occupying the shore and surface.

"That looks like one of those flying ones, but it's on the water. Is it a fish?" Sunstreaker asked, pointing at one of the fowl's bobbing along the surface. Ratchet quickly scanned the information pad to find the answer. He was just as stumped as the youngling.

"It's a dynometal-duck. Apparently it is a bird, but it makes its home on water. Quite a few birds do supposedly," Ratchet said.

"So does that mean some fish can live on land and fly?" Ratchet gave up and shrugged. Sunstreaker rolled his optics and turned back to watch the animals. He was standing on a small platform, made for younglings it seemed, so that he could look over the railing. He leaned forward, dangling his arms over the railing. Ratchet came to rest next to him, leaning forward on his elbows, interlacing his digits. They stood there, watching all the different aquatic creatures frolic around.

"Sideswipe says he's playing with a zap-mouse," Sunstreaker suddenly said, not moving. Ratchet turned to look at the side of the small yellow helm. He wondered how much the twins actually communicate through the bond. Had they been talking the entire time they had separated? There was no physical sign they gave that showed they were talking, so who knew how much of their life was actually spoken out loud. Though, sometimes the noise they did make when together made it more than possible that they didn't always talk over the bond when addressing each other.

"I thought they were with the cats," Ratchet said lightly. The youngling was quiet for a moment, as if he was just watching the animals.

"He says the photovoltaic cats were just lying around and he got bored so they went to see the little animals at the petting area. He says the zap-mouse keeps shocking him, but it tickles. He also told me to say hi," Sunstreaker reported, sounding uninterested. Ratchet smirked to himself and turned to watch one of the ducks bob its helm under the surface before coming back up again, paddling off.

"Why am I not surprised that he became bored?" Ratchet muttered shaking his helm. Maybe a subroutine had made him choose to be the one to take Sunstreaker, knowing the yellow twin was less outwardly troublesome, though Sunstreaker wasn't an easy youngling to deal with. Sometimes his moods could sway dramatically and quickly, becoming difficult and stubborn, whereas Sideswipe was just easily excitable and an attention-seeker.

"He gets that from Roadster," Sunstreaker said quietly.

Ratchet turned his helm slowly back to the little bot next to him. _'Gets it from Roadster'_? That had caught him out. He hadn't expected either twin to say anything about their creators, let alone now, in the middle of the zoo. Now, to have a name drop out of the youngling just like that. He allowed himself to smile sadly. He had always imagined that is would be Sideswipe who opened up about their past, not the yellow one. It must have taken a lot for Sunstreaker to even think about it, let alone talk about it. Maybe the doctor had earned a small measure of trust from him? Maybe the trust between them all could be fixed.

"Does that mean you take after your other creator?" Ratchet asked, he tried to keep it conversational and light. He hadn't know if he was going to get an answer, and he wouldn't mind if he didn't, but he had to wonder if it was less about the twin telling the mech information for his sake, or that Sunstreaker _needed_ to talk about it. The silence stretched out between them, before Sunstreaker tilted his helm, resting it lightly on his right shoulder and arm, still looking at the lake.

"I dunno, Silhouette talked more. A lot more. He was more serious though, so yeah, I guess I do," Sunstreaker said, lifting his helm back up he stepped off of the platform and away from the railing. Ratchet stood up straight. The twin looked up at him with a neutral expression. What he was expecting, Ratchet didn't know. He was curious, he couldn't deny that, but he also couldn't bring himself to press the youngling further. The past was the past and should stay there.

"Let's head for the quad. We can wait for the others there. No doubt Sideswipe will become bored with the zap-mice soon enough and want some energon," Ratchet said, turning motioning to the exit of the aquarium. A soft light came to the twin's optics and he nodded. As they walked, the twin gently took Ratchet's hand, holding it lightly.

"If I remember, there's a play area near the quad. It's been a long time since I've been here though," Ratchet said as they walked as a comfortable pace.

"Could Cybertronians even transform when you were a youngling?" Sunstreaker asked, giving the older mech a sly look. Ratchet turned a stony glare and a raised optic ridge at the twin.

"How old do you think I am?" Ratchet said, optics narrowing in to the twin. He saw the slightest twitch of a lip component.

"I dunno, but nannybots tend to be old," came the calm reply. Ratchet exhaled loudly, pursing his lip components together.

"You know, you pretend to be serious and grown up, but you're just as bad as that glitch mouse you call a brother. Well, I refuse to be fooled anymore," Ratchet declared, letting go of the little hand and crossing his arms under his chest. The twin obviously needed to take his mind off of the previously heavy subject they had briefly talked about and Ratchet was more than happy to play along.

"The only difference between us is subtlety," Sunstreaker said as they turned left and began to head north. Ratchet never got to come up with a reply, as his communicator went off. He pulled it out of subspace and pressed the button.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Hey Ratch. We... erm... we have an incident."

O o O o O o O

A/N: Next time – A special guest star joins us! If you can guess who it is by the time the next chapter is out, guaranteed next Monday, I will write any TF fiction request you want! ANYTHING!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sadly, nobody guessed who the special guest star was. I thought I was really obvious, what with them being at the Cybertron zoo. Watch the second series episode "Day of the Machines" (That's the one with Gregg 'Me Grimlock' Burger's amazing TORQ III voice) and you'll hear the quote. I'll have to do another guessing game in another chapter.

Also, I may have inadvertently included a second guest star, though no name is actually mentioned. I never actually intended for the character to actually be anyone in particular, but it works.

Now, I want to thank all those who have faved me and the story, and those who have it and me on their alert list as well. I also want to say a massive, big, huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story. You all have such nice things to say, and you all review so regularly as well. This is all for you guys. You have no idea how much your support has helped me in my personal life. This is one constant source of happiness that I have in a life that is starting to spiral out of control.

Commentary at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com

O o O o O o O

Reach Out – Chapter 7

"Why aren't they doing anything?"

Wheeljack raised an optic ridge. The red twin was currently sat on his shoulders, legs tucked spaciously under his head fins. It had seemed like the best place for him to travel, since it was Wheeljack that couldn't keep up with the brisk pace set by the twin, not the other way round. He sighed, both at the thought that he was too young to be feeling so old already and at Sideswipe's question.

Wheeljack looked out into the pen to observe the pride of large cats. Most of them were laying down near a metallic object that Wheeljack assumed was supposed to mimic a natural geological feature. He looked up to the giant floodlights that shone into the pen before looking back at the cats. All of them had their backs facing the lights and looked to be recharging.

"I guess they're recharging, ready for the offcycle when there's less light around. See those panels, they absorb UV light and convert it into energy that they need to function. I guess they don't need energon then," the last part he mused to himself more than the youngling.

"Can we make them move? Like, throw something at them to wake them up?"

"No Sides, we're not throwing anything at the photovoltaic cats," he sighed, holding onto the younglings feet.

"Just one energon goody. They might like it," Sideswipe said, dangling his half eaten bag of goodies in front of Wheeljack. The older mech took the bag and had a snack for himself.

"Sides, I know you know better than that, ok? Now c'mon, let's go see some of the other animals," Wheeljack said as he began to walk away from the pen and along the winding path.

The next large pen they came to housed the canine facsimiles. The petro-hounds were more entertaining, and they had even caught them at feeding time as a keeper threw energon goodies to them and they fought over the scraps, snarling and snapping at each other.

"They're vicious!" Sideswipe had cried out, laughing at the mayhem below him.

"Kinda like Ratchet, huh?" Wheeljack had whispered to the twin, giving him a conspiratorial flash of the fins, which earned him a giggle.

They continued walking, the twin having climbed down from Wheeljack while at the turbo-fox enclosure. They chatted amiably and bought a second bag of energon treats, with a promise not to tell Ratchet they had had so much. Sideswipe had asked about what Wheeljack had done when working at the zoo. He knew that the youngling's interest wouldn't hold if he actually explained how he calibrated environmental generators for a couple of orns, so he threw in stories of what he had seen the animals do, and even embellished a tiny bit.

"Can we go there?" Sideswipe said, stopping to point at the small mammals hut.

"Sure thing," Wheeljack agreed. They entered quite a large room, which had hutches and pens all dotted around. The red twin scurried over to the first one and peaked over the metal fencing. Within were quite a few mammals with long flat antennas and large back legs, all hopping around. Sideswipe quickly looked at the sign.

"Petro-rabbits. Are they related to petro-hounds?" Sideswipe asked, looking up at the inventor. Wheeljack hummed and tapped a finger against his mask. Good question.

"Petro-hounds and petro-rabbits aren't related, they just share the name because of the technology used to create them," a voice said from beside them. They both turned to look at the green mech that had approached them. Wheeljack recognised him as one of the keepers he had met when he had been contracted by the zoo. The young green mech turned to Wheeljack and nodded smiling.

"I didn't expect to see you back so soon. Are you here for work or fun?"

"Work is fun for me. I'm here with my little buddy here today. Sideswipe, this is Hound. He works here at the zoo," Wheeljack said as a means of introduction. Sideswipe grinned up at the other mech, who nodded to the youngling.

"Hi there. Are you enjoying the zoo so far?" Hound asked.

"Yeah! It's great! I wanna work here when I upgrade, all the animals are really cool, except the photovoltaic ones. They're boring," Sideswipe said looking back at the rabbits. Wheeljack laughed and placed a hand on the twin's helm.

"A few orn's ago he wanted to be a energy dock worker after we drove past and saw the loaders," Wheeljack told Hound, who smiled and laughed.

"Indecisive huh? Don't worry, you'll find the perfect job one day," The green mech said. Wheeljack could tell that Hound had spent a lot of time talking to younglings. He had a way of talking to them without sounding like a grown up. And Sideswipe seemed to be responding to that.

"Yeah, I'm gonna keep my CPU open. Sunny's already decided what he wants to do though," Sideswipe said as he began to walk towards another pen. The two adults followed.

"Sunny?" Hound asked as they approached the cage of helio-hamsters.

"His twin. He's with Ratchet in another part of the zoo at the click," Wheeljack informed the keeper. Sideswipe was leaning against the interlinking metal fencing to get a better look at the hamsters, which were all floating around gently, some of them bumping into each other.

"Ratchet is the doctor you live with right? I didn't realise you two were bonded, let alone sparked," Hound used, rubbing his chinplate. Wheeljack chuckled and shook his helm.

"We're not bonded," Wheeljack explained as he leaned towards the pen as well. Hound hummed, a curious expression on his faceplates but he didn't say anything.

"Can I pet one of the helio-hamsters?" Sideswipe suddenly asked. Hound smiled and put his hands on his hips.

"They have a tendency to float away if we let them out," Hound said and couldn't help but grin at the dejected expression on the little youngling. The green mech knelt down and leaned in close to Sideswipe. Wheeljack lit his fins softly.

"But we do have some zap-mice that don't mind being held," Hound whispered, winking an optic. The smile he received threatened to split the little faceplates that snapped up at his suggestion.

Wheeljack let Hound lead them over to a series of hutches at the far side of the hut. He unlatched one of the doors on a hutch and reached inside to take out a small animal. It was a dull grey colour, and fit easily in Hounds palm. It sat back on its back legs and ran its front paws over its ears and the two small antenna that stuck out of its helm. A small crackle of electricity snaked its way up the two protrusions before it got back on all fours and began to crawl around the large hands.

Sideswipe watched, a look of wonder lighting his faceplates. Wheeljack crouched down as well. It really was a marvel how the animals had been manufactured to be so similar to their organic counterparts, yet given a Cybertronian twist. He had spent time watching the animals as we worked, watching their behaviour and movements, hypothesising how they had been engineered and wired. Sure he could have gone home and looked it up, but where was the fun in that, and his work was definitely fun.

Sideswipe, meanwhile, tentatively reached a hand out towards the mouse. He gently placed a finger on the mouse's helm and ran it gently over its back. The mouse stilled, letting the youngling pet it. He smiled wider and continued to stroke if for a few more astroseconds before suddenly snatching his hand away, optics growing wide.

"They produce a little electrical discharge every so often, that's the shock you just felt," Hound said, smiling gently.

"It didn't hurt me. It tickled," Sideswipe said. Hound took the younglings hand and held it up, palm facing upwards before reaching out and placing the zap-mouse in Sideswipe's palm. He brought up his other hand to cup the mouse. It crawled around a few times before sitting back. Hound pulled out an energon pellet and placed it in the red twin's hand. Sideswipe smiled softly as the little creature began to eat it, then let out a laugh as he received a jolt of electricity. Wheeljack couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sunny and Ratchet are watching a bird swimming in the aquarium," Sideswipe said after a few clicks of quiet observation. Hound raised an optic ridge at the inventor. He must have thought the sparkling was crazy.

"Split spark twins. They can communicate with each other," Wheeljack told the other mech, who's faceplates lit up in comprehension.

"Ah, never met a split spark twin before," Hound said, turning back to the twin, who was watching the mouse intently. Whether he was actually concentrating on the animal or on talking to his brother, Wheeljack hadn't any idea.

"Are zap-mice and glitch-mice related?" Sideswipe asked suddenly, not taking his optics away from the feeding animal.

"In a way. They're both a species of animal called rodent. The rodents they're based on are very closely related. Others, like the helio-hamsters and retro-rats are distantly related. They all evolved differently from the same type of animal, mostly," Hound explained, still crouched down next to the youngling. Sideswipe looked up at the keeper. Wheeljack knew exactly what question was coming.

"Evolved?"

Hound must have known as well, as he didn't seem surprised, neither did he falter in explaining.

"Evolution is how organic life forms come into being. They start with a single type of animal, called a species, and through changes in environment and breeding, they gradually change their appearance and the way they live so that they're better suited to survive. They end up changing so much that they can be classed as a new type of species altogether," Hound explained as he took the now sleeping mouse back and put it in the cage.

"You sure know your xenobiology," Wheeljack said to the keeper as he locked the hutch. Hound chuckled and scratched the back of his helm. They turned towards and walked to the entrance.

"It fascinates me, organic life. The way they function and the complexities, all the different species and variations. I used to spend hours reading the journals and papers published by the university. I'd love to visit an organic planet one day. See the species in their natural environment. I had been hoping to join one of the expeditions, but what with the Vos-Tarn war stopping all off-planet travel, it's going to take a long time for it to start up again," Hound said, ending with a shrug. Wheeljack nodded. The fighting between the two regions was beginning to devastate them both. It had yet to spill over to any other regions, especially Iacon, who had been the target for Vos' ministrations. Hopefully they would resolve the conflict soon. Nobody wanted another great war to break out.

"I'm sure it will. Like evolution, things change," Wheeljack offered as they reached the entrance. Hound smiled and nodded. The inventor couldn't help but hope for the young mech that he would one day realise his dream. He evidently knew what he was talking about, and all that knowledge was too valuable to be wasted in just theory.

"Well, we should be meeting up with the others in a few breems so we're heading over to the quad," Wheeljack said, turning to the mech and holding out his hand. Hound smiled and took it.

"It was great to see you again. Next time you come for a visit, contact me ahead of time and I'll arrange a tour for you all," Hound said.

"That'd be great, wouldn't it Sides?" Wheeljack said, looking down to his side to address Sideswipe. Except the youngling wasn't there. Wheeljack turned to scan the room, looking for the little red twin. He couldn't see him inside. He quickly turned to check outside. There was no sign.

"Sideswipe?" Wheeljack called out, fins lighting up bright. He stepped forward on to the main path and called the younglings name.

"He's definitely not inside," Hound said as he returned from the building. Wheeljack turned to the keeper.

"I took my optics off of him for a few astroseconds!" he cried, shaking his helm. The green mech put a hand on the inventors shoulder struts.

"Don't worry, he can't leave the zoo. The main gate wouldn't let him through on his own. He won't have gone far, he's only been gone a few clicks at most," Hound said, determination on his faceplates.

"You don't know what the twins are like! We need to find him fast," Wheeljack said as he walked into the crowd and began looking around.

"We'll find him. I'm pretty good at tracking," Hound said as he began to scan his surroundings slowly, possibly for any signs to pick up on. After only a few astroseconds, he tapped Wheeljack on the shoulder and motioned behind him.

"He went this way," Hound said, turning and walking in the direction he had motioned in. Wheeljack sighed as followed, taking his communicator out to place the call to Ratchet.

He was in so much slag.

O o O o O o O

The rant was spectacular, even for Ratchet's standards. He spent a solid half breem telling Wheeljack exactly what he thought of the inventor, the missing youngling, the zoo and the situation. He didn't even care about the stares he was getting from other patrons, or the shocked faceplates of Sunstreaker, who would have just learned most of the vilest curses imaginable to any Cybertronian. Oh yes, Ratchet would have been pleased with himself, if he hadn't been frantic at the thought of Sideswipe loose in the zoo on his own. He couldn't even begin to think who was in more danger; Sideswipe or the rest of the zoo?

Ratchet felt the need to hit something, or throw something. Better yet, a few cubes of high grade would be nice right at that point. Sadly, all three option were out.

"Look, I know this looks bad, but we're looking for him now ok? He's in the zoo, we can find him," Wheeljack said over the communicator. Ratchet scowled at the little device, as if Wheeljack could see it.

"We? Who the frag is we?" Ratchet said through gritted denta.

"I'm with one of the keepers, we're tracking him now," Wheeljack said. Ratchet narrowed his optics. If Wheeljack was with a keeper, then he might have a better chance of finding the youngling. Might.

Ratchet sighed and offlined his optics. Ranting had made him feel slightly better, but the situation hadn't changed. He calmed his temper and sighed. He kicked himself mentally for being surprised that something had happened. He should be used to it by now. Now all he could hope for was that they could get them upgraded to adult soon so that he could stop worrying so much. He hoped.

He onlined his optics just in time to see Sunstreaker scurrying away. He started and called out the yellow one's name before reaching out and grabbing the twin's scruff bar.

"Oh no you don't. We're not having both of you missing," Ratchet said hotly, stilling the twin. The twin growled and began to pull away from the medic.

"Let go! He's going to see the moosebot, which is over there!" Sunstreaker yelled. Ratchet let go in surprise. The youngling stumbled forward, but managed to catch himself before he fell. He turned on the medic and crossed his arms in defiance, glaring fiercely at the medic.

The medic slapped his hand against his chevron. The bond, how could he have forgotten? They had only been talking through it not so long ago. Sunstreaker must have found out where his brother was. That means they could catch the little glitch.

"Where did you say he was?" Ratchet asked, kneeling in front of the youngling. He kept his voice even. The quiet contentment that had settled between them had gone in the face of this predicament. He needed to be gentler with Sunstreaker at this minute as the twin looked like he had descended into a bad mood.

"The titanium moosebot," Sunstreaker spat out, looking away from the medic. Ratchet cursed silently to himself. One missing youngling, one bad tempered youngling and a steadily growing ache in his CPU.

"Wheeljack, he's heading to the moosebot," Ratchet said into the communicator.

"That's not far," Ratchet heard a second voice say in the background, presumably belonging to the keeper Wheeljack was with.

"Ok, we're heading there now. See you there," the inventor cut the line after that. Ratchet subspaced the communicator and turned to the twin in front of him. He put his hands on the little yellow shoulders and looked at the twin till Sunstreaker looked back at him.

"Can you tell him to stay at the moosebot once he's there?" Ratchet said softly. Sunstreaker continued to stare hard at Ratchet before he bobbed his helm once.

"He's there now," Sunstreaker said, his voice tight. Ratchet felt his stress levels begin to descend. Hopefully the others would get there before the youngling decided that the moosebot wasn't exciting enough and move on.

Ratchet stood and turned, motioning for Sunstreaker to follow him. They walked in silence. Ratchet had instructed Sunstreaker to tell him if Sideswipe moved. The yellow twin's silence indicated that Sideswipe had managed to stay put. Eventually they came to the paddocks where the map-pad said the moosebot would be. They made their way through along the path, this time neither of them stopped to look at the animals.

Finally Ratchet stopped in his tracks when he spotted them. Wheeljack was stood next to the paddock, firmly gripping Sideswipes scruff bar. The errant youngling looking petulant, kicking at the metallic path, arms crossed. Near to them, a green mech was stood talking to a blue and white femme. Ratchet surmised that the mech was the keeper, seeing as the femme was obviously an enforcer. Ratchet sighed and hoped that whatever had happened was easily repairable, or easy to bluff their way out of.

"Do you think it's too late to pretend we don't know them?" Sunstreaker said, biting his bottom lip. Evidently he also recognised an enforcer when he saw one.

"Probably not. You have identical chassis', they're bound to guess," Ratchet muttered, he had yet to make his way over to them. Maybe he was also reluctant to insert himself into the situation just yet. Sunstreaker snorted at the comment and shifted from pede to pede.

"At least we're not the same colour anymore," he muttered darkly. Ratchet raised an optic ridge.

"The same colour?" Sunstreaker looked up at the medic ruefully.

"Yeah. We were both that Primusly horrendous red as sparklings," he said reluctantly, casting the medic one last look before turning back to the scene. Ratchet would have smirked, but his turbulent emotions over the current situation stopped him finding any amusement.

He finally stepped forward towards the small group. Sideswipe was the first to notice, optics widening, his bored expression turning apprehensive as he watched the medic approach. Wheeljack must have felt the youngling tense up. He turned and finally rested his optics on Ratchet. He nodded once, fins lighting up slowly as he did so. The other two turned to watch him approach, still talking, obviously seeing Wheeljack's attention elsewhere.

Ratchet stopped in front of Sideswipe, Sunstreaker stood behind him, peering around his legs. The medic crossed his arms and glared down at the youngster. Sideswipe met his optics briefly before ducking his helm sheepishly. Ratchet shook his helm slightly and turned to the other three.

"Well?" he directed to Wheeljack, who scratched his helm fin before speaking.

"He was caught throwing energon treats at the moosebot," was all Wheeljack said, he himself glaring down at the twin, whose optics were still glued to the floor. Ratchet narrowed his optics.

"And why would you think that was a good idea?" Ratchet said evenly, optics weighing heavily on Sideswipes helm. The youngling shrugged, still not meeting optic line with anyone.

"I thought it would get the moosebot to do something," he mumbled. Ratchet's optics widened slightly. Did he actually think that was an acceptable answer?

"What a glitch," Sunstreaker said, an optic ridge raised as he stared at his brother, who snapped his helm up to glare at his yellow counterpart.

"Not a word out you!" Ratchet barked, turning his helm slightly to the side. Sunstreaker just shrugged.

"I take it you're his other creator," the femme said. Ratchet turned and nodded. He had never denied it when anyone assumed he was their creator. It always made life easier, instead of having to explain the circumstances every time. The femme looked past him and to Sunstreaker, who was glaring up at her.

"And this one?" she asked, cocking her helm slightly. Sunstreaker shrank back, moving closer to the medic.

"That's his brother," Wheeljack supplied.

"Two younglings? Must be quite a handful," she said, hands on her hips, a pursed smile on her lip plates.

"You have no idea," Ratchet grumbled, rolling his optics. She chuckled and turned back to the red twin, a soft yet stern look on her faceplate.

"Now Sideswipe. I want you to think long and hard about why what you did was wrong. I want you to behave for your creators from now on. No more distressing the animals, no more running away. Can you do that for me?"

Sideswipe looked up at the enforcer and nodded meekly before returning his gaze to the floor, not meeting anyone's looks. She nodded and patted his helm.

"Thank you," Ratchet said, shaking her hand.

"Good luck with these two," she said as she turned and walked away. Ratchet watched her stride away at a steady pace and thanked Primus that Sideswipe had had a run in with what seemed to be the only easy-going enforcer around.

"I should be getting back as well," the green mech said, patting the inventors shoulder.

"Thanks for all your help Hound," Wheeljack replied.

"Sorry for the trouble this one has caused," Ratchet said, expression softening for the mech. He didn't deserve a scowl.

"It's Ratchet right? No problem. By the way, that was an impressive rant you had. I think I learned a few new curses today," Hound said as he turned and left. Ratchet glared at the retreating back. Maybe he did deserve it.

That just left the four of them. Ratchet had to think about how to play this. He didn't want to just start shouting and screaming, as much as he wanted to. The youngling definitely wouldn't listen to a rant. Would he even listen at all? All he could think was just to reiterate what the enforcer had said, punish him once they returned home and hope that the lesson would cache in Sideswipe's CPU. And people said he didn't have faith.

Fortunately, he didn't have to make the decision in the end, as Wheeljack let go of Sideswipe's scruff bar and knelt down in front of the errant youngling he placed his hands on the small red shoulders and waited for the twin to look at him.

"Sideswipe. Why did you run off?" the mech asked, fins lighting softly. Sideswipe looked thoroughly miserable and guilty. Ratchet had to guess that he was expecting a loud rant from him, not the quiet upset of Wheeljack. Who knows which was worst.

"I dunno," was the quiet reply. Wheeljack sighed.

"You don't know why you walked off?"

"I didn't mean to," Sideswipe said again, looking off to the side.

"Did you not think that we might be worried if you ran away? Or that you could have been hurt? You scared me, Sideswipe," the engineer said softly, sadly. Ratchet shook his helm minutely. For his friend to be this upset, it must have been terrible for him. "Why did you think that was ok for you to do?"

The youngling shrugged, glancing to his brother, then to Ratchet before falling back you the floor.

"I dunno. Badly programmed impulse control?"

Ratchet couldn't help the snort of laughter that erupted from him suddenly. Three pairs of optics turned on him. He tried to keep his features serious, but he could feel it was a losing battle. He dipped his helm trying to hide it.

"Ratchet," Wheeljack said, looking incredulously at the medic. Ratchet gave up trying and let the smirk spread along his lip plates. He held up his hands in a placating gesture as he saw Wheeljack glare at him.

"I'm sorry, but badly programmed impulse control?" he said, staring down at the youngling. Sideswipe shrugged, a small smile of his own forming. Sunstreaker looked amused in his own scowling way, staring at Ratchet like he had grown an organic arm or something. Even Wheeljack's fins lit up brighter, but he looked like he didn't want to find it funny.

"You must have a half installed imagination as well, to come up with such a poor excuse," Ratchet said, still trying to look at the youngling disapprovingly.

"And you must have a transistor loose in your humour circuits," Wheeljack huffed, standing up to stare at Ratchet. The medic sobered slightly. It wasn't fair on the mech, if he was seriously upset and Ratchet was being counterproductive. It made a change, for once he supposed.

"At least we weren't arrested," Ratchet said, making sure both younglings were still with them. They were now stood next to each other. Neither was looking at the other, but their closeness and the way they were gesturing slightly, facial expressions changing minutely. Ratchet guessed that they were communicating. Who knows what they were discussing though.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Or the last, if we keep going like this," Wheeljack muttered as he began to usher the twins in front of him.

"Do we have to go?" Sideswipe said as he pivoted and began walking backwards, trying to adopt an innocent look in his optics, but soon gave up when he received two stony glares from the two mechs.

"Do you really think you deserve to stay after all the trouble you've caused?" Ratchet replied angrily, "I'm seriously considering putting you two on a leash whenever you go out."

The red twin turned back around, keeping pace with Sunstreaker. The red twin cocked his helm to one side before casting a glance at Wheeljack then Ratchet. Ratchet thought he saw a calculating look in his optics.

"You were right Wheeljack; he _is_ like a petro-hound."

O o O o O o O

A/N: I had to end it on a snappy one liner! It was the only way!

Next time – Reach Out will be back in two weeks time with a Sunstreaker-centric tale (reader request from FoghornLeghorn83. Request still open as Reach Out stands at an estimated 11 chapters long so far, unless you want it to wrap up then and get onto the angst-ridden sequel?).

But don't worry, I'll be posting a one-shot next Monday for you all to enjoy and I do hope you all enjoy plug and play interfacing. Mwah!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: And then there was Jalaperilo! Thank you for all the patience in regards to the two and a half week gap! Sadly, I did not accomplish getting ahead like I had wanted to. I barely got this chapter out! That's to blame on the 47 hours a week I'm working at the moment (Not that I'm complaining, I need the money), writing original fiction and also socialising (I guess not getting home till nine in the morning is a bit extreme but hey, it's not like the 36 hours I spent awake and partying at new years). Also, I'm unhappy with it. I don't feel like I gave it any justice and the ending feels rushed.

This week we have a combination of reader requests! Both FoghornLeghorn83 and thephoenixqueen's suggestions are used here, hopefully to their satisfaction, with two others being fulfilled in chapter nine so far (Unless I can shoehorn another thread into the story, lol)

And for those of you who did ask, yes, Chromia did sneak her way into the chapter. She is my favourite femme, especially her and Ironhide's interaction in "The Search for Alpha Trion". You just know she keeps Ironhide on a tight leash when they're together. Actually, I'd love to do a get together fic for them.

Also, I totally forgot to name check Darklight8121 for a reader request in chapter seven! Sorry my darling! x x x

Chapter commentary at jalaperilo(dot)livejournal(dot)com

O o O o O o O

Reach Out – Chapter 8

Ratchet was furious, and Sunstreaker was glad. Ever since he had heard the medic enter their home, he had been waiting with a heavy feeling in his tank for the adult to go to his berthroom. He almost smiled when he heard Ratchet shout from the other room for both twins to get their afts in there.

The twins had been in their own room. Sunstreaker was drawing on his favourite sketchpad. His brother had been playing noisily with the figures he had nagged their guardians to buy them the last time they had gone to the city. Sideswipe stopped playing almost immediately, looking from Sunstreaker to the door, a confused feeling travelling across the bond. Sunstreaker shrugged and carefully hid his own feelings.

A shadow fell over the open doorway. Ratchet stood tall, hands on his hips and badly hidden anger on his faceplates.

"You two. With me. Now," he ground out, pointing down the hallway. Sideswipe stood up immediately and left as Sunstreaker jumped off of the berth and walked at a slower pace.

All three of them entered the room as Wheeljack exited his lab, obviously curious as to what had angered the doctor. The twins stood just inside the door with Wheeljack behind them, while Ratchet stood next to his berth.

"What's wrong?" Wheeljack asked fins flashing as he spoke.

"I'll tell you what's wrong. This," Ratchet said, holding up two smashed datapads. The screens had heavy spiderweb cracks and the buttons were all smashed in and a few were missing.

Sunstreaker could feel his brother's optics glance at him before turning back to the medic. Wheeljack stepped past them both and over to Ratchet. He took one of the pads and examined it intently.

"I want to know who did it," Ratchet said, turning back to the twins with a cold stare. Sunstreaker felt his twin tense up over their bond. Sunstreaker continued to keep the bond open fractionally and stared right back at the medic.

"What makes you think the twins did it? They could have just fallen off of the case?" Wheeljack said, putting the pad back on the berth.

"They were oh so neatly positioned on the berth. Did they just fly onto it and smash themselves?" Ratchet ground out, crossing his arms again. Wheeljack raised an optic ridge before casting a glance at the twins. The yellow twin didn't even flinch when Ratchet finally turned to face them full on.

"Who broke these pads?" Ratchet asked, looking between them. Sunstreaker held the stare while Sideswipe shook his helm slightly. Ratchet's faceplates set into a grim scowl when he realised that he wasn't going to get an answer.

"Nobody broke them then?" Ratchet said, sarcasm dripping from his vocaliser. Sunstreaker watched Wheeljack step forward, and retract his blastmask.

"If it was an accident, then you need to say so now," Wheeljack said quietly. Ratchet rolled his optics but refused to say anything. Obviously he didn't believe that it was an accident or agree with the soft nature Wheeljack was trying to employ.

Neither twin said anything. Sideswipe fidgeted nervously where he stood, poking Sunstreaker through the bond. No doubt trying to find out if his twin had had something to do with it. The yellow twin kept the block up, his twin finally noticing that the emotions leaking through weren't as powerful as usual. Sideswipe turned to his twin, confusing marring his faceplates. Sunstreaker kept looking forward, towards the mechs. Ratchet caught the look and turned his attention to the yellow one, raising an optic ridge.

"Well?" Ratchet said, his heavy gaze and Wheeljack's soft optics resting solely on him. The twin shrugged and rolled his optics to the side, before snapping his attention back to the adults. Ratchet frowned, furrowing his ridges. He then turned to the other youngling.

"Sideswipe?" The red twins helm snapped back, startled at being addressed.

"I didn't do it," he said, shaking his helm. Sunstreaker scowled as both adults were now focused on his brother. As always.

"So they broke themselves?" Ratchet asked, optics narrowing. Sideswipe tensed.

"I dunno what happened to them," his brother reiterated as Sunstreaker's scowl turned colder.

"One of you does know what happened to them, or is that both of you know? Am I going to have to punish you both?" Ratchet said, gesturing to the pads, optics still fixed on Sideswipe.

"We don't know," Sideswipe said, obviously worried that he was going to be blamed for something he didn't do. Sunstreaker crossed his arms.

"Someone is lying and we're not leaving until we find out who," Ratchet said, looking between the two of them before his optics settled on the red twin. _As always!_

"I did it," Sunstreaker said, raising his chin, his expression set in a haughty sneer. All the other occupants in the room turned their attention to him. All optics on him. Finally. He felt his twin push harder against his block, but the other kept it up. The hurt on his twins faceplate was evident.

"I stamped on them," he said, arms falling to his sides, fists balled.

"Why?" Ratchet asked, looking incredulously at the twin. For all the certainty the medic had shown in thinking that one of them had done it, he looked surprised that he had actually been right. Sunstreaker sneered. Why had he done it? Why did any youngling do bad things?

"They were ugly! They deserved to be smashed!" he shouted, startling all the other occupants. Wheeljack looked taken aback at the outburst. So did Ratchet, who had a disappointed look in his optics.

Finally, everyone's attention was on him, and he hated it.

"Sunstreaker-,"

"I hated it! I hate you!" he yelled, offlining his optics as he shouted. He needed to get out of the room, away from their stares. He had wanted the attention so badly when he had smashed the pads. Now though, now he wanted them all to stop staring.

He onlined his optics and ran out of the room. He needed to get away completely. He ran for the door and was out and down the stairs before anyone could stop him. He thought he could hear someone shout after him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be alone.

O o O o O o O

Wheeljack had been shocked at Sunstreaker's outburst and subsequent exit. The youngling had been quick; managing to disappear by the time Ratchet had reacted and ran after him. Wheeljack just had enough time to follow Sideswipe as the youngling raced after Ratchet and his brother. He stepped out onto the small platform at the top of the stairs. Ratchet was at the corner of the clinic, scanning the street both ways. He had Sideswipe in his arms, who was also craning his neck.

The inventor descended the stairs and walked out into the street. The avenue was busy. There was no telling where Sunstreaker could have gone. Wheeljack shook his helm. He couldn't understand what had happened. Why had Sunstreaker broken the pads? What had his outburst all been about? Why had he run away? Wheeljack couldn't come up with any answers. They had no time to figure out answers, the main issue they had was finding the absent youngling. He turned to Ratchet.

"What should we do?" he asked. He didn't know if he had actually meant to ask that, but it was the only coherent question that came to his CPU that didn't start with a 'why'. The only person who could answer those had fled.

"Find him. It's getting dark. I don't want him out there alone," Ratchet replied, voice laced with worry. Sideswipe was wriggling in his arms, trying to get Ratchet to put him down. From the way Ratchet kept hold of the youngling, it was apparent that the mech wasn't about to chance loosing the other one. He hefted the squirming bot up to look at him in the faceplate.

"Sideswipe, can you find him?" Ratchet asked softly. The twin stopped moving and looked into the older mechs optics before looking away, sadness etched clearly onto his faceplates.

"No. He's blocking me," the little one said softly.

"He can do that?" Wheeljack asked furrowing his brows. He didn't know just how much they could control the bond between them. Was it the same as spark bonded couples? Being able to quieten the emotions and link, but never truly disengaging the bond? All he had was anecdotal stories and research to go on, having not bonded himself. Unlike Ratchet, who he knew was keeping notes on the twins as they developed, he hadn't put any thought into the intricacies of the bond between twins. He had simply just accepted it as fact.

The twin nodded in answer to the question. "We normally don't. But he's been blocking me all day. I didn't even realise. Why is he blocking me?"

The hurt in Sideswipe's vocaliser wrenched at Wheeljack's spark. The little one looked so lost. The twins were rarely apart. Maybe a joor at a time, sometimes a bit longer, but they must have had an open connection to the other at all times. The sudden loss of two way communication must have had Sideswipe panicked. Wheeljack approached the medic and twin. He gently placed a hand on the little red helm.

"I don't know, but we'll find him. Make sure he's ok," Wheeljack said softly, fins lighting up. The twin sighed and rested his helm against Ratchet's shoulder. Ratchet hummed slightly and held the twin closer.

"He wouldn't have gone far, maybe even somewhere he knows. Sideswipe, can you tell me and Wheeljack of some placed that you and Sunstreaker used to... live. Before you lived with us?" Wheeljack caught the slight waver in the medic's voice. Ratchet had confessed to the inventor, a while back, that he hated thinking about the life the twins must have had before they had taken them in. There were a few bots who had had the misfortune of growing up in poverty, if not out on the streets themselves. Ratchet and Wheeljack tended to see a lot of them first hand, what with them not charging for the medical treatment they provided. They witnessed the harsher side of life, the ones who could barely scrape together enough credits to afford energon to power themselves.

Seeing this every day, in their work, sometimes dragged Ratchet down, let it get to him. So much so that sometimes his gruff demeanour he used to hide behind couldn't mask. Wheeljack, who was more comfortable with showing his emotions, also felt the tug. To know that the two youngling they now cared for had suffered the same disadvantages, only having the other and nothing else, upset Wheeljack as well.

Sideswipe lifted his helm from Ratchet's shoulder struts and seemed to ponder the request. He looked off to the side before looking up at the medic.

"We never really stayed in one place. We used to play in the silicon pits, and the park near the energy docks. Loads of places near the energy docks. That's where we got energon from. Also, there were lots of abandoned places in the industrial sector. And the, er... south domestic zone," the twin said in a quiet voice, tracing the red cross on the medics shoulder as he spoke. Ratchet nodded grimly. That meant that Sunstreaker was basically anywhere, as the docks were on the other side of the city to the industrial sector.

"You two covered a lot of distance," Wheeljack said. Sideswipe shrugged as Ratchet put the red twin down on the ground, keeping him close to him.

"We'll need to split up. We'll start in the immediate area and fan outwards towards these areas," Ratchet said, dropping into altmode and opening his door. Sideswipe scrambled into the front quickly, evidently glad that he was being included instead of left behind.

"If we don't find him by the start of the off cycle... we'll alert the authorities," Ratchet said as a parting comment as he began to speed away. Wheeljack transformed and set off towards the docks. He kept his scanners open for any sign or energy signature of the twin. Wheeljack hoped that they'd be able to find him soon. Hopefully they wouldn't have to alert the authorities. They were already on shaky legal ground when it came to caring for the two. This would just tip them into the 'unfit caretakers' category. He hoped Sunstreaker was just blowing some steam and that he wouldn't go far. But then again, would they even be able to find him if he truly didn't want to be found?

O o O o O o O

Primus must have been smiling upon him that cycle, as Wheeljack finally spotted the youngling a groon later. He had almost not registered the youngling as he drove past, only just recognising the flash of yellow armour as his sensors displayed up a match to the energy signature he had been scanning for. He braked harshly before doing a u-turn and stopping just thirty megametres away from Sunstreaker to transform. The youngling was sat on a low wall in a desolate neighbourhood that overlooked the docks. From a cursory look, he just looked like a young bot watching the ships come and go with their loads.

Wheeljack got his communicator and hailed Ratchet. "I've found him. We're on the West 65, near the docks."

"We're on the otherside of the city, we'll be there soon," Ratchet's voice said, tight with relief.

Wheeljack began to walk over to Sunstreaker. He stopped just behind the youngling, regarding the back of the yellow helm. Now that he had found the twin, Wheeljack hadn't a clue what to do. Would he bolt again? Would he agree to come home? Would he explain himself? Wheljack, who's life revolved around questioning and finding answers to mechanical and engineering problems was beginning to hate questions.

Wheeljack sighed slightly, which the youngling must have heard. He sat up straighter before looking over his shoulder. His optics landed on Wheeljack, hold the inventors gaze with passive faceplates before his optics dimmed and he turned back. His shoulders slumped again. At least that answered the first question that had floated along Wheeljack's processor.

The inventor walked over to the wall and sat down next to the youngling, swinging his legs over so that he now faced the port. One of the frigates was pulling away from its loading bay, thrusters igniting as it reversed slowly. Gradually, it left the dry dock and manoeuvred its way in a tight circle as it ascended. Both mech and youngling watched its slow progress as the light began to fade around them and the planet began to descend into the offcycle.

After a long stretch of time, Wheeljack turned his helm slightly. The twin tensed instantly, stopping the steady swinging of his legs as he caught Wheeljack's attention turning towards him.

"Is everything alright Sunstreaker?" Wheeljack asked. The twin turned to stare at the inventor. Evidently, he had not been expecting that question. He frowned as he turned to face forwards again. His helm lowered as he began to swing his legs, kicking the heels of his pedes against the wall. Wheeljack watched the twin shrug.

"Not really," the twin answered, voice quivering slightly as he spoke. When it was clear that Sunstreaker wasn't going to expand, Wheeljack pressed forward.

"What's wrong?" At that, the twin sighed and rolled his helm backwards before dropping it forwards again. The twin didn't seem to be upset, or angry, or showing any emotion. He just had a frown and a scowl etched onto his plates.

"Dunno. Everything. Nothing. Is Ratchet really mad?" he asked, cast a furtive glance. Wheeljack lit up his fins softly.

"He's worried. So is Sideswipe. He was very worried about your bond being closed," Wheeljack said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knee joints, one hand clasping his wrist. Sunstreaker nodded before he slid off of the low wall. He turned around and leaned forward onto the wall, looking back out onto the road.

"I didn't... I mean, _I_ broke the pads. I didn't want him to know. To be told off. He's always being told off," the last sentence seemed to be spat out. Wheeljack furrowed his optic ridges. He didn't know how to take that last statement. It didn't actually sound like he was concerned for his brother's behaviour.

"You don't like it when we scold Sides?" Wheeljack asked, dumbfounded and unsure of what to say. Sunstreaker stood up straighter and began to draw lazy circles in the top of the wall, looking downwards.

"You're always telling him off, shouting at him. Laughing at him. Always him. He gets all the attention. I just wanted to be noticed," Sunstreaker trailed off, lowering his helm as his vocaliser wavered.

Realisation dawned on Wheeljack, blooming slowly in his processor. All this was a cry for attention. Did the yellow twin really think he was being ignored? Wheeljack began to wonder if they had actually done just that. Punishment and reprimanding youngsters seemed to be a delicate tightrope, and they seemed to have gotten it wrong. He remembered the conversation he had had with Ratchet about youngling behaviour and punishment, about boundary testing and reprimanding. Wheeljack had assumed that though they had a difference of opinion, he and Ratchet provided a united front and a balance between the two viewpoints.

How had they gotten it wrong?

"I wanted the same attention as Sideswipe. But it felt so false, I wanted it so badly, but I hated it. I let you down. I let Ratchet down," Sunstreaker muttered. Wheeljack retracted the blast mask and bit his lip components.

"Sunstreaker, there is a difference between positive attention and negative attention. That's why you didn't like it, it was because we were upset and in turn, you felt bad," Wheeljack spoke softly but clearly, leaning back and reclining slightly, propping himself up with his arms out behind him, hands grabbing the edge of the wall. The youngling turned to face the docks again, leaning back against the wall.

"I was happy when I broke the datapads. I was glad that I had done it. That makes it worst. I want to say sorry, but it would be a lie, cause I wasn't sorry at the time," Sunstreaker whispered, balling his fists by his side. Wheeljack's optics dimmed. The yellow youngling must have been feeling so confused. He must have found it hard to process these feelings properly. He always seemed so much more grown up than his young life let on, but he was still a youngling. And the world was already confusing at that age, without having to deal with emotions like rage and jealousy. The frustration was evident in his entire frame. That must have been the reason why the twin was eager to upgrade, to get away from the growing pains.

"Do you feel bad about breaking the pads now?" Wheeljack asked, regarding the twin with a neutral expression.

Sunstreaker shrugged. "Once I thought about it. Cause it was Ratchet's stuff I broke and he was upset and that made me upset. Then it made me angry," Sunstreaker said, still not meeting Wheeljack's gaze.

"That doesn't sound false to me," the inventor ventured.

"It is! If I was sorry, I wouldn't have done it. I mean, I feel bad now cause I made you upset, not cause I stamped on them. It's all messed up in my processor!" Sunstreaker yelled, optics almost white with emotion, his fists still balled up.

"Do you feel guilty?"

"I am guilty!"

"Yes, but do you feel it?" The yellow twin faltered at the question, staring into Wheeljack's optics. He didn't answer for a long time.

"Yeah," he whispered.

"Sometimes, I just feel so angry at nothing at all. I try not to be, cause Roadster said that anger can hurt the people you love if you don't let go of it. I try, but it's hard," Sunstreaker said, kicking the wall.

Ratchet had told Wheeljack what Sunstreaker had said when they had been at the zoo. That the youngling had mentioned his creators briefly. He had been surprised at that. The conversation had been recounted to him, but in the few words that had been said, more had been spoken that it seemed. Wheeljack saw it as a sign that the twins were beginning to feel safe with him and Ratchet. It was a pity that they had not been raised by their creators though. No one deserved that but everyone deserved a second chance and hopefully he and Ratchet could give them that.

"That's good advice. He must have been very smart," Wheeljack said, a small smile on his faceplate. He would have liked to have met the twins' creators, to get to know the two that had brought two bright, clever sparks into existence.

"If he had been smart, he wouldn't have gotten himself killed," Sunstreaker muttered, optics cast downwards, his whole posture looked defeated. Wheeljack offlined his optics. What could he say to that? Anything physically broken, he could fix in no time. He understood how machinery worked, even the Cybertronian body in all its components. But a youngling's processor? Where would you even start? All he could think to do is be there for Sunstreaker, let the young one talk.

"What happened to them?"

There was silence for a long time as the distant sound of cargo crates being unloaded and ship thrusters permeated the air around them. The occasional thud of containers being set down, the hum of the crane engines, the idle ships blended into the night, like an unheeded score. Sunstreaker stayed still for a long time before he turned back to Wheeljack. The yellow twin regarded him for a moment before climbing to sit back on the wall, this time he sat close to Wheeljack, leaning against his arm.

"It's... at the time, I didn't understand what was happening. We had only just upgraded from sparklings, we were still really young and didn't understand. Looking back, I know now. We didn't have many credits, and they needed to upgrade two sparklings, not one. I guess they borrowed some money from the wrong people. We didn't have much, but when Roadster would hug us, or Silhouette told us stories about the golden age, it didn't matter. We were happy.

"One offcycle, some mechs came to see Silhouette and Roadster. There was three of them, two were massive. They were shouting. I had never heard Silhouette shout like that before. I couldn't hear what was being said but I knew they were dangerous mechs. Then Roadster came to our room and told us that me and Sides needed to go hide somewhere safe until the oncycle. We were so scared cause he was scared, but Roadster told us that as long as we stuck together, we'd always be safe. He lowered us out of the window and told us to only come back when it was light. So we did. We hid behind a parts receptacle on the other side of the zone. I wanted to go back, but we needed to stay together."

The Yellow twin trailed off. He leaned in closer to Wheeljack, who put his arm around the little twin and drew him closer. Silence reigned once more between them. Sunstreaker's vents were taking oxygen in heavily and he had a slight tremble to his armour. This time when he spoke, it was quieter.

"We... we went back. There was people. All around and coming in and out of our home. Most were enforcers. I saw a few mechs with crosses. I guessed they were medics. So many people. I snuck nearer to the unit, around the back. There was purple splashed all over the window that we had climbed out of. When I saw the energon I knew that our creators had been offlined. Suddenly, there was just two of us, instead of four. Sides wouldn't listen, he wanted to go to the enforcers. I told him that the bad mechs would come for us as well if we went over there. Even enforcers couldn't stop the bad mechs. They would find us and hurt us as well. So we ran away. Far away," the youngling buried his helm and faceplates into the inventor's side. Wheeljack tightened his arm around the small frame and held him as the yellow twin seemed to be overcome with grief. He didn't sob or make any noise, the tension in his little frame was apparent.

They sat there for a long time giving and receiving comfort. Wheeljack still didn't have a clue what to say or do. Deep down, Wheeljack knew that Sunstreaker didn't need words of comfort or for him to do anything except be there physically. That seemed to be enough for the twin though it didn't stop Wheeljack wishing there was a way to take the pain away. That was idealistic though. Pain never really left, you just had to come to terms with it and use it to make you stronger, or let it break you. Wheeljack was certain that Sunstreaker would come out stronger. He had already lived through much of it, it was impossible for the twin to suddenly drown, even as he mourned next to Wheeljack.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of someone approaching. Wheeljack craned his neck to see Ratchet walking over to them, Sideswipe following close behind. Sunstreaker lifted his faceplates away from the inventor's side and looking up. His optics rested on the medic, expression neutral. Wheeljack stood up and turned to face the other two, standing on the opposite side of the wall. Sunstreaker turned around, throwing his legs over the wall and jumping down on the other side.

The medic stood still, regarding the small bot. Normally both looked defiant, and a battle of wills would always be fought in a single stare, but not this cycle. Wheeljack turned from the two to the little red twin. Sideswipe stood off to one side, looking utterly lost. Ratchet opened his mouth to say something, but Sunstreaker cut him off.

"I'm sorry," he said, holding the medics gaze before dropping his optics to the ground. Ratchet pursed his lips slightly, his optics softening. Wheeljack hadn't expected the medic to be angry anymore, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that one wrong word could unsettle the situation, especially between the two most antagonistic of all of them.

"Apology accepted. As long as you're alright, nothing else matters," Wheeljack was thankful that Ratchet seemed to have seen that Sunstreaker was in a very vulnerable state. For all of his pushing away and shortness of temper and gruff personality, he seemed to be the most empathetic person Wheeljack knew and had no doubt read the situation correctly.

"Sunny?" Sideswipe said softly, taking a few steps forward. The yellow one looked up briefly, before he looked back down. Sideswipe's optics went wide and he ran over to his brother and threw his arms around him. Sunstreaker must have finally opened their bond again, the swirling rush of emotions overtaking them both as they clung to each other. Finally being together again. Like their creator had told them to be.

"It's ok Sides," Sunstreaker whispered, offlining his optics as he rested his helm on the others shoulder.

Wheeljack gazed at the two of them silently. Truth be told, he was overwhelmed by all the emotion that this cycle had brought. He wasn't afraid of feelings, and he counted himself as quite emotionally stable. It was probably that that had made him uncomfortable and unsure of how to offer reassurance. Maybe he hid more behind his mask, deep down than he though. Maybe they all had coping mechanisms when it came to feeling the pain life throws at you.

Wheeljack felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to Ratchet; the medic had a small, bleak smile on his lip components. Wheeljack twisted the corners of his mouth into a not quite there smile, his mask still retracted. He was sure the weariness he felt showed clearly. Thankfully, Ratchet didn't ask him any questions, possibly knowing that he would get them later, once the inventor wanted to talk.

He turned back to see Sunstreaker approach them. He was holding his brother's hand, Sideswipe following behind. Wheeljack knelt down in front of Sunstreaker once the twin had come to a stop. The little faceplates were frowning, but his posture spoke of a somnolent calm. The yellow twin placed a small hand on Wheeljack's arm.

"Thank you for listening," he said quietly, looking off to the side. The twin obviously felt uncomfortable, and it was slightly adorable. Wheeljack felt that he should be the one thanking the twin, for the trust that the twin had now placed in both adults. No doubt they all had a long way to go and more obstacles to overcome, but as long as they were all together, helping, they would be able to survive.

Wheeljack stood up and held out his hands to the two. "Let's go home."

O o O o O o O

A/N: Next time – "They're not wings, they're sensor panels."


	9. Chapter 9

AN: So, guess who's not dead? I do apologise most heartily about the hiatus. Now I'm back and hopefully going to be able to update more regularly. I'm hoping to get Reach Out up to a once a month update and also start some other projects.

Also, thank you to all the people who sent in reviews and faves over the last year. This is for you guys. As always, commentary at jalaperilo. livejournal. com

* * *

Reach Out - Chapter Nine

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were playing noisily on the floor in front of Ratchet's desk. Normally the medic didn't allow the younglings in his office, or most places within the clinic, but there was simply no other place for them that cycle. Wheeljack was extremely busy with a few highly profitable commissions and just didn't have the time to entertain the twins. Ratchet was also weary of letting them out as well. Not two orns ago they had been escorted back to the clinic by one of the shopkeepers from a few streets over. Fortunately, the femme hadn't asked for reimbursement for the broken datapads. The embarrassment had been enough punishment for Ratchet for that cycle.

Somehow, the twins had become quite notorious in the district and everyone knew exactly where they lived and who was caring for them. Ratchet had moaned that his reputation had been glorious at one point in his life.

So now he tried to keep an optic on them, much to their chagrin. So now, drawing pads, playing figures and other games spread all around them and the floor, taking up all the space they could in the small office. They were currently exploring an electrum swamp in search of treasure. Ratchet ignored the noise, probably used to them and their volume by now, as he had yet to tell them to be quiet while he worked at his computer terminal. Ratchet hadn't even reprimanded Sideswipe when he climbed up onto his lap, then across the desk and jumped off. He did keep throwing a glance over to them every so often. It was rare that the two of them played so boisterously together for such an extended period of time without fighting.

The internal line rang, drawing Ratchet's attention away from the medical records in front of him. The line ran through the entire building, from their home to the clinic and the several handsets dotted around. Ratchet signed and hit the speaker button.

"Yes?" he said curtly.

"Hey Ratch. Are you busy?" Wheeljack's voice sounded, too cheerfully. Sideswipe popped his helm up to peer over the desk and towards the speaker.

"Hey 'Jack!" He called out cheerfully, beaming at the receiver.

"Hey Sides. Hey Sunny," he called out. Sunstreaker, still kneeling on the floor drawing, grunted a hello.

"What do you want?" Ratchet asked, cutting to the point. Sideswipe wrinkled his nasal ridge. Ratchet's workload was obviously huge and his temper short. He had to wonder why the doc hadn't kicked the two of them out by now.

"Ah, well. It's kinda embarrassing. I'm kinda locked in my lab," he said, still cheerful, but it sounded forced. Ratchet scowled at the communicator, as if Wheeljack could see it. This seemed to be a new low for the inventor.. Ratchet may have found it funny, but his sense of humour had taken a vacation that cycle it seemed.

"How in the name of Primus have you locked yourself in your lab? It's a four digit code that you programmed yourself into a basic lock," Ratchet asked incredulity dripping from his voice and shaking his helm. The code wasn't a secret, at least not to both adults.

Sideswipe had taken on a confused look, sharing a glance at Sunstreaker, who was still on the floor but listening to the conversation. He too was shaking his helm at the inventor.

"Bet he's exploded the lock," the yellow twin muttered.

"The lock works fine. I just can't enter the code," Wheeljack said. Ratchet's optics narrowed at that. Wheeljack was being vague and acting skittish. That meant that he was either up to something, or had already done it and needed Ratchet to bail him out.

"Wheeljack. Why can't you enter the code?" Ratchet asked, his voice steady and calm. Sunstreaker had now stood up and was also staring at the communicator. He shared a look with his twin before turning to Ratchet and eyeing him like a bomb that was about to explode.

There was a silence that filled the for a few astroseconds. The mood in the room dropped a few degrees as the foreboding stretched on. Sideswipe knew that this conversation was gonna end up with Ratchet shouting. Once again. He wrinkled his nose and waited for the storm to break.

"Ah, that would require fingers to punch the code in to the lock," Wheeljack said finally.

"Excuse me?" Ratchet's optics opened wider in the wave of that little revelation. "And why have you got no fingers to punch in the code?"

The younglings shared the same expression of disbelief, almost mirroring Ratchet's own. The torrent of fury under the surface of the medic was the only difference. They had heard Ratchet make references, normally in the form of biting one line remarks, on Wheeljack's renowned ability to destroy stuff, which was almost on par with his excellence for creating. If Sideswipe thought about it, the first time he had met Wheeljack, he had been missing several digits.

"It's a long story involving a faulty on/off switch. You might want to bring a medkit," Wheeljack said in a manner that was not at all fitting. Ratchet offlined his optics and took a couple of deep intakes for several astroseconds before regaining some calmness back. He rubbed his helm and finally stood up.

"Fine. I'm on my way. You'd better have all your digits though, cause we don't have any spare," Ratchet barked as he reached for his medkit.

"Bring a cleanser pack as well. There's hydraulic fluid everywhere! Who knew wrist joints held so much fluid," Wheeljack said, shifting around from the sound of the rustling in the background.

"Wrist fluid? How much of your fragging body have you hacked off?" Ratchet finally snapped.

"And there's the cursing. I honestly thought he wasn't gonna snap that time," Sideswipe muttered, grinning. Sunstreaker rolled his eyes but wore his own little smirk before being drawn back to the conversation.

"One and a half hands?" Ratchet shouted incredulously. He slammed his hand down on the disconnect button before hefting his kit on his shoulder and turned to leave the office. He stopped at the door and turned to look at the two younglings, who were just stood watching him.

"I don't know if leaving the two of you here is a good idea or not," he said neutrally, eyeing them wearily. Sunstreaker scowled at the implication, but Sideswipe shrugged and shifted from one pede to the other.

"Who knows. I mean, there's a lot of stuff here that can get broken by boisterous younglings, especially myself," the red twin said. He eyed the medic, who has narrowed his optics, nonverbally prompting the youngling to continue with wherever the pit his train of thought was leading. "I mean, I know we don't intentionally cause trouble, it's just circumstance and always accidental, but sometimes when in a confined space, we tend to forget ourselves as a way of keeping our already short attention span occupied."

"Speak for yourself," Sunstreaker huffed.

"Are you suggesting that you would in fact cause less trouble if allowed to run free?" Ratchet mused, temper ebbing from him as he stood and listened to the twin's illogical bleating.

"Certainly less property damage," Sideswipe said solemnly. Ratchet sighed and seemed to be waging an internal war. He didn't really have time to be debating this, but he honestly seemed torn. Finally, after a mere 47 astroseconds, the medic caved and groaned.

"Fine, you little glitches, you can go out but I want you back three breems before the offcycle," he said. Sideswipe burst into a huge grin. Sunstreaker smirked at how easily Ratchet was caving nowadays to the twins. Maybe they were just grinding down his resolve?

The twins followed the doc out of the room and towards the entrance. Before they could scurry off, Ratchet stopped them by their scruff bars and loomed over them.

"Listen very carefully. I want you to behave. No trouble, no fighting and absolutely no enforcer escort you understand? This is your chance to prove that you are capable of behaving out in public, unsupervised. You're going to be mechs soon, and you need to learn how to be proper, upstanding members of society," Ratchet said.

"What if we fake it?"

"Good enough for me," the medic replied before letting them go and turning towards the stairs to their home.

The twins walked off in another direction, not before Sideswipe shouted for Ratchet to say hi to Wheeljack for them. Ratchet didn't respond.

The two bots began walking towards the main leisure area. They walked along walls and took long-disused shortcuts down side passages and over fences until they were told off by someone for walking too noisily on the mech's roof. They kicked a piece of scrap metal along the road, taking it in turns until Sunstreaker cut in Sideswipe's turn, which set of a struggle to be the next to kick before it was kicked down a run off chute. After that, they mostly chatted about the game they had played that cycle after that and who could win in a fight, a tank model or a freighter.

"So, what now?" Sunstreaker asked, crossing his arms as they entered the main road.

"Dunno," Sideswipe shrugged looking around, weaving past the other bots on the street. Sunstreaker sighed.

"It was your idea to come out. I assumed you had a plan," the yellow twin griped, rolling his eyes as they came to a halt to one side. Sideswipe shrugged again. He looked around try and find inspiration.

"Man, we never used to not know what to do. What happened?"

"We've been tamed."

"I know. Let's get some energon goodies," Sideswipe announced, pointing down the street towards the shops. Sunstreaker wrinkled his nasal ridge. Energon goodies were always too sour for his taste. He was sometimes glad that he had an intolerance, as it provided an excellent excuse not to have them. Sideswipe, on the other hand, would stuff his faceplates with them until _he_ purged from overfilling his tanks.

Sensing his twin's reluctance, he sighed and grabbed Sunstreaker's hand, dragging the unenthusiastic youngling behind him.

"Well, I want goodies. You don't have to have any. And besides, I have all the credits," Sideswipe announced as he finally reached the energon store. Sunstreaker wrenched his hand out of his twins grip before they entered the store.

"I'm not going in. It smells of mercury and rust in there," Sunstreaker huffed, crossing his hands over his chest. Sideswipe rolled his optics and turned to enter the store.

"Fine, you wait out here. Do you want anything?"

"For you to explode from eating too many goodies?" Sunstreaker shot back, glaring at his brother. Sideswipe laughed and disappeared into the store. Sunstreaker had to resist the urge to yell 'glitch helm' at the red one.

It took some time for Sideswipe to get his bag of energon goodies, as the old femme who owned the store seemed to have fritzy audios. She was nice, just needed some extra amps. He managed to buy a can of oil as well for his brother, just so he wouldn't moan. Sunstreaker accepted the gift as graciously as he ever was.

They continued to walk, consuming their fuel in no time. They then decided to give each other back rides down the street which abruptly ended when Sideswipe tripped and they both went down in the middle of the street, which got them yelled at again for obstructing people. They ended up sat on a low wall, watching a distant crane unload boxed off of a flat bed truck.

"Do you think Ratchet has repaired 'Jack yet?" Sideswipe asked.

"Hmmm. Half a groon of shouting, two breems of Wheeljack calming him down, another groon of finding the bits of hands. Dunno how long it would take after that," Sunstreaker mused, rubbing the back of his head.

"You'd think that Wheeljack would get a voice automated door," Sideswipe said as they jumped off the wall and walked down a random route back towards the district centre.

"He'd probably blow his vox-mod the day he got it," Sunstreaker replied, smirking at the image.

"Yeah, he'd be all '_crshhhh_ Ratch _cssstch_ boom _cruuuuck_ please don't hurt me'," Sideswipe imitated, holding his neck as he did a really bad impression of the inventor. Sunstreaker laughed as his twin stumbled around with a limp.

"Yeah, and Ratchet wouldn't fix it. 'I'm sick of your fragging slagging scrap'," Sunstreaker put his hand on his hip and started stabbing his finger towards Sideswipe. "I'm gonna make you eat your vox-mod and spit up batteries!"

"_Crrrsh_ but Ratch _sssssck_ don't hurt _hssssss_ swallowing the bomb seemed like a good idea!" Sideswipe cried out, laughing and cowering from his twin, who was trying to act serious but couldn't help but grin.

"I'll put that bomb in your fragging aft you misfire of a faulty diode," Sunstreaker yelled as he pretended to beat Sideswipe up. The red twin wailed an over exaggerated 'no' as he put his hands over his helm.

Suddenly a clearing of a voice module alerted them to the presence of someone behind them. They both immediately stopped and turned. They both looked up into the neutral faceplates of a tall, white and black mech. His faceplates were unreadable, as if set in position. He had what appeared to be wings, but unlike any design they had seen. His demeanour stuck them as an enforcer, but the symbol he carried was different to the ones they usually ran into.

"Everything ok here?" The mech asked in a measured voice, looking from one to the other. Sunstreaker, as always, matched the other person's stare, while Sideswipe fidgeted under the gaze.

"Yeah. Just playing," Sideswipe said with false cheer. He still didn't know what the deal with the mech was, whether they could run away, not knowing if he'd give chase or not.

The mech considered the comment for a second. "Just playing huh?" His gaze shifted over to Sunstreaker who was still matching his stare. Sideswipe admired that his brother had the bearings to not cower whenever an adult confronted them. Ratchet had called it insolence. Sunstreaker had smiled at that.

"That was some strong language you were using," the mech said to Sunstreaker. Sideswipe felt Sunstreaker bristle.

"Are you an enforcer?" The yellow twin asked. The mech quirked an eyebrow, obviously not expecting a youngling to be so forward.

"Not at the moment," he said promptly, squaring his shoulders. His wings shifted higher.

Oh great, thought Sideswipe. An off-duty Enforcer was almost as bad as an on-duty one. Probably had no qualms with taking his work home with him. This was going to have to be dealt with subtlety.

"Then I don't think we owe you any explanations."

Sadly, Sunstreaker was anything but subtle. Sideswipe threw a panicked glance at his brother before turning back to the mech, who looked mildly surprised at the attitude of the yellow youngling. Obviously, he was one of those who thought younglings were naive and innocent. Sideswipe's CPU booted up to full speed to try to control the situation.

"What he means, is that you're obviously off-duty, so we won't bother you with 'work'," Sideswipe cut in, stepping forwards and letting a charming smile grace his features. He ignored the 'glitch' that floated through the bond from his brother. The mech's attention returned to the red twin, who felt the heavy stare and the feeling of being sized up and analysed before his body language changed and relaxed.

"Well. Thank you for the consideration. I guess it's hard to turn off from 'work' mode. May I ask, in a purely conversational manner, where your creators are?" The mech asked, a small, calculating smile graced his lip plates. Sideswipe smiled back, his own a mix of youngling innocence and roguish charm. Sunstreaker let his brother control the situation, now that he was warming up to the other's presence.

"Probably still at the clinic," Sideswipe said.

"Clinic? Is everything all right?" The mech asked concerned. Sideswipe just waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Oh yeah, he just needs his fingers reattaching, no big," he replied.

"That sound's quite serious," the mech said.

"Nah, he does it all the time. Ratch'll sort him out." The mech's look turned to confusion as the conversation progressed. Sunstreaker realised that to an outsider, it sounded bizarre.

"Our carer had an accident and is being fixed by our other carer. They own the clinic," Sunstreaker clarified. The mech seemed to comprehend after that. Sideswipe could be a glitch at times, the yellow twin surmised.

"We should get back. We'll be late if we don't set of now," Sunstreaker said, gesturing behind him. Sideswipe shrugged as he turned, swinging his arms.

"Would you mind if I walked you home?" the mech asked, that small smirk back on his face again. Both younglings froze, their optics seeking each other out.

::Does this count as being escorted home by an enforcer?::

::In Ratchet's optics?::

"No offence, but if we show up with an enforcers in tow, it's not gonna go down well, despite you being off-duty," Sideswipe said, levelling with the mech, who raised an optic ridge.

"Is that a regular occurrence?"

"Not as regular as Ratchet makes out," Sunstreaker mumbled.

"Well, it would settle my processor if I at least made sure you returned home safely. It is getting late," the mech said, that small smile still fixed on his face.

"Fine, you can tag along, but you can explain to Ratchet that you're our new friend and that we're not in trouble. If you could also mention that we were mature and responsible as well, that would help our case," Sideswipe said, motioning for the mech to follow.

"I believe you have yourself a deal," the mech said with a smile as he followed.

"Though now that we're friends," the mech said, a wry amusement in his voice on the word 'friends', "I feel we should know each other's designations."

"Oh yeah. I'm Sideswipe. This bucket of happiness is Sunstreaker." Sideswipe introduced, which earned him a ringing slap on his shoulder from his twin.

"My designation is Prowl," the mech, Prowl, told them. Sideswipe repeated it to himself.

"So, Prowl, what's with the wings? Are you a jet?" Sideswipe asked, completely relaxed and slightly over familiar now. Prowl let out a sigh.

"They're not wings, they're door panels," Prowl said, with a tone that seemed to suggest that he had had this conversation more times than necessary. Sideswipe looked from Prowl's faceplates to his panels, which hitched up slightly.

"What's the difference?"

"For one thing, I cannot fly. They form the side panels of my alt mode," Prowl said with practiced ease.

"Have you ever tried to fly?" Sunstreaker asked, already coming out of his sulking mood to satisfy his own curiousness.

"No. It's just an aesthetic choice, like the femme frame, or the seeker mold. Its popularity is mainly localised to Praxus it seems," Prowl said, looking down at the two younglings. Sideswipe was about to say something else, but Prowl cut him off.

"Are you two brothers?" the Praxian asked, possibly to get away from the subject of his 'wings'.

"We're split-spark twins. We're unique."

"You certainly are, despite the obvious contradiction to that statement. So, you were one spark that split?" Prowl asked, genuinely intrigued. Sunstreaker sighed. He wished his brother would just settle for 'brothers'. That would save the questions. The same type that the Praxian found tedious, he guessed. He decided to derail the conversation.

"So, if you're an enforcer from Praxus, why are you here?" Sunstreaker asked, keeping his faceplates neutral. He wasn't very good at faking emotions, not like Sideswipe, but he'd learned that keeping a straight face made him impossible to read. It gave his the same results as the fake smiles Sideswipe came up with to charm his way through life.

"I'm here working on a joint project with your city's council, as a liaison more than anything," Prowl answered, his panels hitching slightly at the mention of work.

"Sounds boring," Sideswipe commented, picking up a piece of piping and banging it against the passing buildings.

"I suppose it can be," Prowl said simply.

Soon enough, they arrived at the clinic. Sideswipe entered the foyer first, reminding Prowl to 'play it cool'. The mech followed him, with Sunstreaker trailing behind. The room was empty, and there wasn't anyone at the desk. Sideswipe ran up to the buzzer and pressed it a few times, before holding it down. It took less than a minute for Ratchet to answer.

"Sideswipe, you stop that this very-," the medic stopped as he emerged from the corridor. He looked from grinning twin, to stubborn twin to Prowl and his Praxian insignia, and back again. He walked over to the sliding doors and slammed the release before stepping out.

"What the pit did you do to warrant a Praxian high enforcer escort?" Ratchet asked, looking at Sideswipe. Sunstreaker was still behind Prowl, leaning against one of the chairs and frowned. _High enforcer?_

"We're not in trouble. Prowl's our new friend," Sideswipe said, approaching the medic. "Prowl, this is Ratchet. Ratchet, Prowl." Ratchet grunted unconvinced before turning to Prowl. The enforcer saw fit to cut Ratchet off.

"They have been no trouble at all. I was out investigating and began talking to these two. I decided to walk them home. To make sure they stayed out of trouble," Prowl said solemnly. Evidently the enforcer was an excellent judge of character. Ratchet seemed to approve of this but had no time to admire.

"I just find it hard to believe that the one time they 'befriend' someone, it's a Praxian official. What brings you here?" Ratchet asked. The twins looked at each other. Sunstreaker had caught on first that Prowl wasn't a normal enforcer. Sideswipe picked up on the 'official' part. They both turned to Prowl, who's demeanour seemed to have changed, possibly to 'work mode' as he had put it earlier.

"Without going into detail, we're investigating some very worrying activity in this prefecture, possibly linked to the Tarn-Vos war. We believe that a number of, shall we say vigilantes, are starting to organise themselves into one larger group, more so on this hemisphere," Prowl informer the medic. Ratchet frowned. The twins were suddenly lost. Evidently there was more going on in the outside world than they knew.

"It's certainly not as safe to be out as it once was," Ratchet said, almost nonchalantly.

"Indeed. I understand that you own this clinic. May I ask, have you seen anything one might call suspicious? Unexplained injuries? Odd behaviour?" Prowl asked, still standing ramrod straight.

"I operate a free clinic. Anybody can come for medical treatment, and I refuse no one, so I do see some strange things. I tend not to ask questions. Nor do I share patient records," Ratchet said, crossing his arms, his optics hardening.

"I wouldn't expect you to. Do you get more of this type of activity around here than other clinics do?"

"We're the only free clinic in the city, we draw people from mega miles away, so I couldn't really say where the trouble hotspots are," Ratchet said, hesitating slightly, optics sliding to one side as if in thought before settling back on Prowl.

"Though, I believe something happened at the construction yard about three days ago. Treated a few mechs. One for laser damage. Nothing was reported on the broadcasts," Ratchet informed the Praxian, who nodded.

"Thank you. I apologise for bothering you," Prowl said, his doorwings lowering slightly. Ratchet shrugged, brushing off the questioning. He motioned for the younglings to go inside.

"That's fine. Society seems to be going crazy nowadays. Doesn't seem safe to be outside anymore," Ratchet said. Prowl nodded. He then turned to the twins and smiled.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker. It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you stay on your best behaviour for Ratchet. I know good bots when I see them," he said, holding out a hand to them. They were suddenly back on familiar grounding, now that the grown up talk had finished. Sideswipe took the hand and shook it. Sunstreaker seemed more reluctant, but shook Prowl's hand anyway.

"We'll try, or fake it really well. If you ever fly, will you tell us?" Sideswipe said. Prowl's small grin turned wry.

"You'll be the first to know." The Praxian exchanged stilted goodbyes with the medic before leaving.

"I swear, you two seem to find trouble even without being in trouble," Ratchet muttered before locking the doors to the foyer and ushering the younglings further into the clinic.

"What was all that about?" Sideswipe asked as they followed Ratchet down the corridor to one of the examination rooms.

"Hm? Oh, nothing for you to worry about yet," the medic said as they entered a room with Wheeljack sat on a med berth, reading a datapad. His other hand, yet to be repaired it seemed, resting on a medical tray. He looked up and smiled at the younglings, who ran up to him.

"Hey there little buddies," he said, flashing his fins a couple of times.

"How's the hand? Was Ratchet mean to you?" Sideswipe asked as he poked the still to be reassembled hand. The inventor laughed before dropping down into a whisper and lowering himself to their level.

"Very mean. But then again, he's always mean," he winked an optic before straightening himself. "I take it from the lack of shouting that you managed to stay out of trouble."

"Actually, they received a personal bodyguard from their new friend. A Praxian high enforcer," Ratchet said, returning from the far side of the room with the last of the reassembled fingers. Wheeljack's optic ridges rose lightly as he looked at them.

"What did he want?"

"Was asking about suspicious behaviour in the area," Ratchet said lightly as he sat back on the stool and took up his welding torch. Sideswipe climbed up on the berth next to Wheeljack, while Sunstreaker stood next to them.

"Told you the whole world's going crazy," Wheeljack said as he watched his hand spark up as Ratchet welded wires back together. Ratchet hummed agreement.

"What's the difference between a normal enforcer and Prowl?" Sunstreaker asked the question that had been itching his processor since they arrived home.

"A high enforcer works for the council. Very influential. They tend to deal with affairs of state and all that," Ratchet said as he zoomed in to begin working on the smaller lines.

"Looks like you have friends in high places," Wheeljack said, smirking at the younglings.

"Even higher if he learns to fly."

* * *

A/N: Next time – More Ratchet and Sunstreaker bonding, cause I just love it.


End file.
